Jaffe Juice

Sunshine, Magic and the Value of Optimism

Welcome back to another tl;dr of "Joseph Jaffe is Not Famous", with your host, the not famous Joseph Jaffe! In the show, we talk to some pretty interesting and sometimes famous people about how they tackle their day-to-day, why they do what they do, and hopefully teach us a thing or two about leading life with a little more spring in our step. 

In this very special episode, I talked to Gilly the Sunshine Wizard aka Gilderoy Dauterive, our very own sunshine giver and part of my own daily video-watching routine. His Instagram and TikTok channels focus on different aspects of positivity, acceptance, and everyday magic that help you find a better perspective on your day-to-day lives. Throughout our discussion, we touched on what it’s like to be a creator focused on "non-conventional" content while also exploring how Gilly the Sunshine Wizard earned his robes.

Wisha Wisha! I love you!

Who is Gilly the Sunshine Wizard

Gilly the Sunshine Wizard, aka Gilderoy Dauterive, is a content creator focused on different short videos on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok that showcase the different kinds of magic we experience every day and how we can generate our own magic through the power of positivity, acceptance, and personal sunshine.

Apart from video creation, Gilly is also a published poet, writer, and beauty pageant winner. It's through these different experiences that Gilly is able to bring smiles around the world (covering 6/7 continents to date!).

 

Key Episode Topics

Trusting the Value of Everyday Magic

A lot of our experiences happen for us, not to us. Gilly themselves saw this happen in real-time when they were inspired by a sign they saw that said: "You Are Loved". Sometimes something as simple as a poster board can be incredibly moving in sharing a simple but profound idea about life. 

Gilly then realized that they can use social media as their very own "poster board." Each of their videos focuses on easy everyday steps delivered in a short format for a quick reminder of your daily routine. 

As Gilly mentions, "you can get a poster board, write 'You are Loved' and I guarantee you you will make at least one person smile." 

 

Embracing Your Own True Self

Very early on in Gilly's life, they knew that they could be a wizard. Growing up as a "fat kid", Gilly felt that there was a lack of representation in the media for people like them. "You get to either be the funny best friend or the cartoonishly gay villain", Gilly reflects, "or you can be the Wizard". It was this insight that allowed Gilly to begin their transformation into the Sunshine Wizard persona.

It's the acceptance of the non-conventional and stepping out of the identities being imposed on you that you can truly begin embracing your true self and finding that sunshine that drives you forward. 

 

Living The Story of Your Own Life

There are a lot of different philosophies today that dictate how you should think, act, and feel. But Gilly finds a different route espoused by Jean-Paul Sartre (expressed in Gilly’s trademark Wizard-y ways): "In this world nothing matters, you can do what you want, [so] if you have the opportunity to help people you should."

Instead of viewing this as a downer way of thinking, Gilly discussed the potential of such a perspective to "turn the mundane and the mediocre into something magical." A strong motivator for Gilly is their belief in the power of conversation and open positive dialogue. "Every life has a story," they continue, "and we can shape the world one conversation at a time." 

 

Being a Creator Today

Today's social media landscape is full of eye-catching content and other media that are meant to grab our attention. But Gilly's short videos focus not on clickbait news headlines but rather messages of joy and positivity that radiates with their many followers (over 100,000 now on Instagram alone). 

Their viral video (originally listed under "Mutton Choppa Poppa"), "You'll be the Sunshine", was actually inspired by a conversation they had with a close friend who was feeling down. It's these everyday interactions that make Gilly's content so relatable as it speaks towards simple yet powerful daily reminders about the sunshine sources in your life. 

This also goes to show that authenticity still plays a big role in creator content success. Much of Gilly's work is focused on their own personal anecdotes and perspectives, which resonate with like minded viewers looking for that type of content. Without a truly authentic brand image (that stands out the way Gilly's does), you’ll likely have difficulty finding that audience that's right for you. 

 

Much has been discussed beyond the key takeaways above, including ideas Gilly shared on accepting the different emotional states you might find yourself in (affectionately described as "mads, rads, and sads"), non-neurotypical thinking, and self-identity in today's world.

Catch the rest of the Gilly the Sunshine Wizard episode here and keep an eye out for other possibly famous people in the next edition of Joseph Jaffe is Not Famous!

You can subscribe here.

Mean People Suck

This soliloquy (transcribed from an off the cuff and conversational delivery) preceded my guest, Michael Brenner on Joseph Jaffe is not Famous on November 9th, 2022. You can watch it here. Please subscribe to the show here.

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I don't normally choose a soliloquy that is literally verbatim the show title or a book from my guest, but how could I not with this? After all, I wrote a book called built to suck.   

Why do mean people succeed or finish first? There are so many mean people. And first of all, meanness is a choice. So is being good. Everything is a choice.

In this world. You can choose to be kind, and you can choose to be cruel. You can choose to be generous, you can choose to have empathy for someone else, and you can choose to be selfish, egotistical and arrogant - it is a choice. It is an absolute choice.

Now, I will tell you, that when we see people acting in a "not nice way," it's typically because something is going on in their lives. I think we should always give people the benefit of the doubt, that is to recognize that when they're having a bad day, they might be a little impatient; a little mean; even a little cruel, but is that an excuse? Is that acceptable?

If meanness is a choice - and kindness is a choice - then even when we're having a bad day, we have the choice whether we want to rise above it or not.

Over the last two and a half years, we've seen people act in incredibly kind and empathetic ways. And we've seen people just batten down the hatches and retreat, and demonstrate that meanness.

But like I just said, it's a choice.

Make that choice when you come to a fork in the road. Take it.

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Excerpt from our interview: "The point of the great resignation was kind of like I've had enough; I don't need to put up with this BS anymore. And that's my advice to folks that work in mean situations. I tell a number of stories in the book (Mean People Suck) about folks that have achieved success, despite working for assholes in many instances, by gaining the support of the folks around them (and I think you've talked about this in your book, Built to Suck, as well.) I talked about the three C's: customers, colleagues and the company - I call it the bull's eye organization: a bull's eye organization is one where everyone is focused on meeting customer needs, and so the impact of a mean boss becomes significantly reduced when the focus is on driving customer experience."

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Michael Brenner is the former VP of Digital Marketing at SAP, he's been a CMO of multiple high-growth startups, is a top Content Marketing influencer, and now runs a fast-growing content marketing agency, Marketing Insider Group. He is also the author of The Content Formula, and Mean People Suck. When he's not running after his 4 kids, Michael enjoys sharing his experiences and client stories to inspire leaders like you to create growth and impact.

Understanding a New Side of Marketing with Pepsi CMO, Todd Kaplan

Todd Kaplan, PepsiCo's CMO, recently joined Joseph Jaffe on his business talk show, Joseph Jaffe is Not Famous, for an in-depth marketing conversation concerning community, brand building, and so much more!

This incredible interview highlights why we need to avoid cutting marketing budgets while focusing on optimism, courage, hope, positivity, and what Joseph calls "community capitalism."

Here are a few noteworthy takeaways and you'll be sure to want to watch the entire episode and while you're at it, subscribe to the show.

Top 10 Key Takeaways

1.    Marketing is Not About the CMO 

As Todd Kaplan states straight out of the gate, marketing is about community and brand vision. While the CMO provides thought leadership and helps drive the agenda, successful marketing comes down to teaching, passion, and pride within the industry, moving forward in a way that will resonate and live up to its potential.

2.    The Idea of Intrapreneurship

Many great ideas and ways to connect with consumers may be right in front of you..inside your own company. Joseph talks about how innovation powers marketing in culture-forward companies. They discuss how treating every advertising role as a startup can help find new ways to bring a product to life and spark creativity within branding.

3.    Embracing the Challenger Mindset

The challenger mindset encourages marketing and advertising agencies to look closely at who the competition is and what you're competing with, enabling brands to think about how consumers are spending their time. Becoming a lifestyle brand and engaging with modern consumers puts you in competition with almost anything that asks for their time. Todd offers some great marketing points, including a Metaverse take on marketing.

4.    The Future of Brands is Community

Recognizing where the future of marketing lies is essential, and understanding the community's role is just as crucial. In this segment, Joseph inquires Todd about whether community is the future of marketing or branding, and Todd responds by stating the future lies with community building. Community plays a considerable role in brand building and focusing on consumers' emotions.

5.    The Tattoo Test

In an intriguing take, Todd Kaplan brings up "The Tattoo Test," which can stand as a marketing test for consumer loyalty and the role a brand plays in their lives. Brands don't only serve as product and service providers but often play a more profound role in consumer lives. Todd names sports as an outstanding example of The Tattoo Test, stating that fans can celebrate or commiserate together, all in the name of a "team," which, at its core, is a brand.

6.    Brand Ownership

In this fascinating segment, Joseph asks Todd who owns the brand: the company, or the consumer? Todd states that the brand owns the ideas, the products, and creative executions. However, deepening the partnership with consumers is essential, and he uses Harley Davidson as an example to show how consumers can take ownership through brand engagement and support.

7.    Courage and Bravery in Marketing

Philosopher Tom Morris comes into the conversation to discuss courage in marketing, stating that "good marketers need confidence, great marketers need courage." What's the difference? Confidence is the expectation of good results, while courage is a commitment to what's needed rather than to what's safe. This entire segment offers invaluable marketing advice from a philosophical point of view, including the emotions marketing evokes in consumers.

8.    The Key to the Consumer

Is courage, or getting off the ride and building your own ride, the key to reaching the consumer in marketing? Sort of. Todd Kaplan broadens this idea by encouraging marketers to realize that they, and the innovation and creative thinking they employ, are the key to the consumer.

9.    "No" is a Request for More Information 

This statement is a beautiful takeaway from this conversation. It's challenging to get every marketing element right the first time. As marketers run into barriers, it's crucial to take the word "no" as a request for more information from a marketing perspective. A "no" from a corporate brand should inspire one to look at it from another perspective, and as Joseph states, "no" could mean "not yet" or "not now."

10. Learning by Doing

Joseph shared a quote: "The point of human evolution is adapting to circumstance. Not letting go of the old, but adapting it, is necessary." - Sonali Bendre

Todd expands on this, as being a marketer means learning by doing, moving through ideas and creative concepts with agility and flexibility. Risks are relative.

 

The Final Word

"What's wrong with marketing?" Joseph posits in his Seated Soliloquy.

 Spoiler alert: The answer is nothing. Nothing is wrong with marketing. There could be an issue with marketers or business in general, but marketing is as it has always been.

 

We've gone over the takeaways, but we've barely scratched the surface of what the entire interview has to offer. Watch it today, and subscribe for more life-coach-esque, daily talk show content.

 

Todd Kaplan is Pepsi's Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing marketing for the Pepsi brand in North America, where he is responsible for all creative communications, brand strategy, product innovation, and commercial execution across the entire Pepsi trademark. Since Fall 2018, Kaplan brings an unapologetic, culture-forward perspective that has been foundational to re-energizing the brand bringing it back into the cultural zeitgeist - from reinvigorating the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show platform with historic performances from JLo & Shakira, Dr Dre, Snoop, Eminem, The Weeknd and many more, to developing disruptive new products like Nitro Pepsi, to putting out some of the boldest and most talked about brand creative the Pepsi brand has ever seen. Todd has established Pepsi as an industry leader of modern marketing, developing new content models - including multiple television shows, long form films -  trailblazed into Web 3 with one of the first brand NFT projects, and more. 

Second Chances (...but what if we never got a first chance?)

This soliloquy (transcribed from an off the cuff delivery and thus, informal and conversational) preceded my guest, Louis L. Reed on Joseph Jaffe is not Famous on October 31st, 2022. You can watch it here. Please subscribe to the show here.

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I can't imagine what it must be to have your freedom taken away from you. And thank goodness now for the first time that feels in forever, whether it's due to DNA research, but also to activism, and to brave courageous people that stand up for those that have had their rights, robbed or stripped or taken away from them, there is hope.

The ability to have a second chance - a second chance in life - a second chance to right the wrongs and correct mistakes…and who hasn't made a mistake?

We all make mistakes. We are all flawed. We are all imperfect. Sometimes we make mistakes based on youth, based on impetuosity, based on desperation, but it really kind of sucks when there are different standards - a different bar; a different ability to treat and address one person based on the color of their skin relative to someone else. Take the Jeffrey Dahmer Netflix docudrama and realizing what really was in play at the time, and how he might not have gotten away with what he got away with had his victims all been of a different color. Had there been just an element of and I'm just going to call it what it is. decency, and, justice.

And I have to say at the end of the day, if you believe in justice, and if you fight for justice, then truly, it should be justice for all. If justice is blind, maybe it's time that we open up our eyes, open up our ears, open up our hearts, open up our soul, and advocate not just on behalf of everyone, but specifically for the people that have been disadvantaged.

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Louis delivered an incredible insight into what it must be like growing up with essentially the odds stacked against you…destined to fail. A black and brown male who grows up with an incarcerated father is almost guaranteed to follow suit.

 "…there are people who actually made poor choices. I made a poor choice and I wasn't wrongly imprisoned. The fact of the matter is that I arguably deserve to have been in prison, especially the way that I impacted the lives of people through criminal enterprise. And So I think that how do we get to a place the larger question is, how do we get to a place where we are dispensing justice, inequity, but we're also focused on rehabilitation, we're also focused on fair chance, oftentimes, you hear the term second chance, a lot of people never even got a first chance. You think about me at the age of five years old? What chance did I get, you know, having, in effect been exposed to the school to prison pipeline? This is not an excuse. This is just an understanding. And so how do we give people who have been impacted who are incarcerated? How do we how do we how do we create opportunities for the children of those parents who are incarcerated? And so oftentimes, we focus on an individual who's who's physically incarcerated, but what about the child that's emotionally incarcerated? What about what about that? What about the parents who are supporting their loved one who's incarcerated, and so we have to look at this from a global perspective, and not necessarily just an individual perspective."

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Louis L. Reed is an acclaimed author, social and criminal justice activist, and the former senior director of membership and partnerships for Jay Z's reform Alliance. He served 14 years in federal prison and five years on supervision. Lewis is a licensed and board-certified addiction practitioner. His professional experience includes working as the Director of National organizing and partnerships for dream.org, formerly known as #cut50. There, he led an advocacy for the passage of the historic first step act through the empathy network where he grew the nation's largest bipartisan grassroots advocacy coalition of justice impacted people

Is your mindset the problem? Expert advice on Time, Money, and Freedom

You've heard the mantras. You've seen inspired moments from athletes, entrepreneurs, and stories of personal triumph.

This conversation between CEO, author, and coach Ray Higdon and host Joseph Jaffe hits on points that take you way beyond quick-fix motivation.

The must-see episode of the Joseph Jaffe Is Not Famous Show, challenges core beliefs that you didn't even know you have, and teaches you how to actually shift your view of the world.

These takeaways are life lessons that everyone should take to heart - or rather, mind.

1.   You're playing the victim, you just don't know it

It's easier to swallow the idea that you could if only *blank* were different. In fact, this familiar mindset tends to become the default over time - a crutch; an excuse.

"The only way [you] fail, is if we get out of our own way," Jaffe says. "That scarcity mindset, that victim mindset - we know that needs to be replaced with an abundance mindset."

2.   90% of our thoughts are the same as yesterday's

"You're in this rut of feeling and thinking the same thing everyday, but you're not aware of it," says Higdon.

The question, then, is how you get out of thinking the same thoughts everyday and cultivate an awareness around those thoughts.

"Allowing 100-percent reliance on your senses to define your reality is just not the smartest way," adds Higdon.

The key, he notes, is to take inventory of your life and see where you are in relation to your goals and expectations.

3.   See things the way you wish they were before they are

What does it mean to rely on your senses? It means building a strong mindset that's independent of your external environment.

One example Higdon looks to as inspiration is from the life of philosopher and author Victor Frankl. Frankl - who was a prisoner at a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust - has a famous quote of how he views his life experiences:

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

4.   Manifestation works, it just takes work

Manifestation is not the casual request for money and happiness that it's often portrayed as in pop culture. It's a mindset practice and tool that can be applied towards many areas of life.

Higdon has proven this in business time and time again, though he reinforced it in himself when taking ballroom dance classes with his wife - which he was terrible at.

"I started on a nightly basis just taking two minutes, a minute and just kind of seeing myself as a good dancer. What would that look like? How would I feel? What would people say to me?"

Six months later he and his wife won a ballroom dance competition. No added practice or coaching. Simply a shift in mindset.

Manifestation, in this way, is really cultivating the belief that you can be a certain person; that you can achieve a goal.

5.   Be defiant.

"We're focused on those one or two points of imperfections to get to that point of perfection...as opposed to being able to really push on our strengths," Jaffe points out.

Focusing on those imperfections instead of driving forward strengths often inhibits people to be "great."

Higdon puts forward the concept of being defiant as a tool - or rule - for people to follow as they go through life.

"What is something I don't want to do, but I know it would help grow me" That way of thinking has helped me grow in a lot of areas," says Higdon.

"The person afraid of falling off a mountain just won’t ever climb it."

6.   Money and happiness are two different equations

As the saying goes: "money doesn't buy happiness."

For Higdon, "it's not an either or scenario. They're just not equal."

"You can have a lot of money and be happy. You can not have a lot of money and be happy."

Of course, having money has its benefits. The key though, is not attaching self-fulfillment to making money. Higdon notes that when you do that, you put yourself into a cycle of basing your happiness on making more money or achieving the next goal.

"Why are we linking them?" asks Jaffe. "They're causality not correlation."

"Don't conflate or confuse the two. Focus on them and realize that one is not necessarily an influencer or a variable that affects the other."

Final Word

Of course, all of the above only comes to life from a person's willingness to act and be persistent. As Jaffe emphasized in his Seated Soliloquy: "The only way we fail is if we get in our own way."

Success comes down to the people, he says, and whether or not they can get out of their own way.

One way to do so is to keep learning and being inspired, so be sure to subscribe to Jaffe's channel to for more empowering, thought-provoking content.

10 Strategies for Companies Coping with COVID-19

I'm not going to sugar coat this at all. We have to be strong and vigilant now, more than ever before.

Our livelihoods are at stake. 

We are looking at the very real possibility of companies being wiped out...hell, even entire industries facing irreversible and insurmountable declines.

Now is not the time to throw in the towel and so in that spirit, I'd like to share with you 10 strategies or ideas that you might want to think about deploying.

1. Add value part 1 - (and to hell with cynics) - Microsoft Teams has been offered to businesses free for 6 months during the corona virus outbreak. With people shifting to working from home, this becomes the ultimate "try before you buy" sampling effort. Does it matter what Microsoft's intent is? Absolutely not. It's helping.

2. Add value part 2 - Pornhub is offering free access to Italians during their quarantine period. This might sound trivial or even inappropriate, but again...who cares? We all want a happy ending, don't we? Opportunism with a bit of personality goes a long way. Apologies to all the puns.

3. Customer obsession is still mission critical - This is not your customers' problem. Do not penalize them. Airlines are not doing enough to help out their customers. Waiving change fees because the flights are still operating doesn't cut it. If I'm canceling my daughter's flight back to college because there is no more college or my flight to Austin because SxSW is canceled, I should get a full refund versus a credit towards future travel with an expiration date! Seriously! I spoke with American and they said they were in line with the policies of the other airlines. I challenged them to LEAD; not FOLLOW.

Hilton on the other hand has been tremendous by applying full refunds to bookings, regardless of when they were purchased AND regardless if they are non-refundable.

4. Loyalty is more important, now, more than ever - You're going to need your customers big time when things normalize. Why not consider a proactive e-mail that tells your most frequent customers you have their backs and will protect their elite status or at least adjust it accordingly? 

Marriott has done a great job of doing this (in an e-mail to Bonvoy members:

We are focused on how the coronavirus is impacting our Marriott Bonvoy Members and have made some important updates to our loyalty program to provide greater flexibility when planning future travel. Specifically, we have paused points expiration until August 31, 2020 allowing Members ample time to redeem their points. In addition, we have extended the expiration of suite night awards (SNAs) with an expiration date of December 31, 2020 by one year to December 31, 2021. Lastly, Members who currently have an active Free Night Award (FNA) expiring in 2020 as part of their credit card benefit, annual choice benefit, promotions or travel package will be able to use it through January 31, 2021. We understand that earning status for 2021 may also be on your mind. As the current situation is still evolving, it is too early for us to make any changes. We will keep you updated on all loyalty program changes through our Marriott Bonvoy member benefits website.

5. Don't forget about your employees - PLEASE. I just flew back on American Airlines and spent a fair amount of time talking to some very nervous flight attendants. They have every right to be nervous. When the airlines are all grounded and they will be, the go to corporate move is to retrench employees. Don't give in to this urge. Protect them. To hell with profits. Protect your people. Wall Street will have to forgive you. And if they don't, we won't forgive them. Starting from scratch is a lot easier than digging oneself out of a bottomless hole...and in order to pick up the pieces, we'll need people. 

6. Employees must compromise as well - Whole Foods has come up with a recommendation where workers share personal time off (PTO) with those who are sick. Donating time off balances things out and ultimately spreads the burden between the whole company. In doing so, it prevents the worst case scenario...layoffs (see point 5.)

7. Be vulnerable and be honest - Companies shouldn't fear being transparent about costs challenges or asking employees or even customers to chip in, chime in or cut them some slack. Is it far-fetched for companies to focus on zero profits for the remainder of 2020? Breaking even seems like a win to me. Collaboration versus competition is another way that enemies can temporarily become friends. A ceasefire so to speak!  

8. No room for fat cats - this is where the C-Suite and Board have to lead by example and check their greed at the door. Companies that take bold moves to forego executive bonuses (in part or in full) in favor of keeping employees employed and/or taking care of local communities will be rewarded by grateful customers and employees. I'm pretty sure if the 1% did not take home a salary - or at a minimum, a bonus - this year, they'd be just fine... 

I cannot emphasize this point enough. Take a page out of celebrities playbook right now and step up - personally and professionally. Steph Curry and his wife, Ayesha, are making a donation to the Alameda County Community Food Bank, and said they want to provide more than one million meals while the schools are closed.

9. Remember the recession - companies that continue to advertise during recessionary times, reap the reward for doing so. Naturally the messaging and tonality have to adapt to and respect the current conditions, but there is something to be said for keeping the homefires burning.

OR....here's a stretch idea: what if corporations donate their air time to PSA's and media companies donate their media dollars to charitable efforts? 

10.  Humor works well...until it doesn't. If you're a corporation, stay clear. As an individual, you probably want to exercise extreme judgement in a public forum. Weird Al Yankovic chose not to do a cover of My Sharona. Sooner rather than later, it's not going to be funny, but in the interim, we kind of rely on our late night hosts to find the lighter side of this crisis and take our minds off the heavy stuff. I don't think it's a good idea to stop production of our late night talk show hosts. We need them more than ever. 

To summarize: we're all in this together. Employees. Customers. Communities. Yes, even (some) governments. Compromise and collaboration are going to be key in order to get through this crisis. 

I urge corporations out there to think about taking longer term proactive (versus short term reactive) steps in order to take actions TODAY that ensure a viable, healthy and profitable TOMORROW.

I am available to talk you through this. To brainstorm. To strategize. I offer this to you at NO COST. With NO STRINGS ATTACHED. 

Good luck all! 

Ay! Corona!

Have you ever heard of the VUCA acronym? With gratitude to Wikipedia:

VUCA is an acronym – first used in 1987, drawing on the leadership theories of Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus – to describe or to reflect on the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of general conditions and situations. It has subsequently taken root in emerging ideas in strategic leadership that apply in a wide range of organizations, from for-profit corporations to education. 

Well, we’re certainly living through a steaming pile of VUCA right now, with worldwide fears of COVID-19 or the virus known as Corona, continuing to wreak havoc with the global economy, much as a gale-force wind might take joy at abusing a tumbleweed.

The fragility and arguably the weak façade of what might have been called “confidence” is somewhat thrown out the window when the world order, norms, standards and practices we perceive as business as usual get turned on their heads.

Volatile? Certainly! Uncertain? Totally! Complex? Unfortunately! Ambiguous? Can you repeat the question again?

Need proof? How about the fact the S&P 500 went from a record high to a greater than 10% correction in just 6 trading days! 

The crazy thing is that this was all predicted and Dean Koontz’s 1981 book contains the evidence. Truth is stranger than fiction, right?

That’s not really what I’m talking about at all. Instead, I’m referring to the ability to imagine and realize your deepest, darkest fears AND THEN to prepare and plan for them. Dehydrated water tablets and Zombie Survival Kits aside, I’m alluding to strategic planning in an era of short-termism, risk-aversion and constant disruption. 

It isn’t really feasible or even acceptable to be caught unawares anymore. We simply have to be able to scenario and contingency plan for these “uncontrollable” moments. You might have heard me reference my son’s soccer club’s motto, “control the controllables” in the past. Our challenge of course is that we can’t even do that! When I reference digital disruption, customer obsession, talent resurrection or corporate citizenship, how many of us can truly say we’re killing it at digital, customer centricity, employee engagement and purpose? These are all controllables and they are the bridge to being able to realize and effect and meaningful for of competitive advantage and differentiation. 

I developed the survival planning canvas to make sure none of this comes as a surprise to you anymore. By looking at your competition “3D” across incumbents, challengers and incubators for example, nothing is unpredictable – or as unpredictable as before. 

The survival planning canvas anticipates Corona – perhaps not in name, but certainly (hat tip: @cliveburcham) in the recurring theme of change.

Corona is not the first external curveball and it won’t be the last, but right now, it is causing extreme damage – some fleeting but some lasting – on entire companies, industries and even countries.

Bellweathers like Apple, Marriott, Microsoft and Nike are warning now about missed earnings. The list is long and growing. Entire conferences and festivals like Mobile World Congress have been scrapped. So it’s not hard to see how any company or industry that has its equity in China and/or the travel and tourism space – either directly or indirectly – are feeling differing amounts of real pain.

And spare a thought for the beer brand, cursed with the same name!

And then there’s the cruise line industry. Sorry to pick on one in particular, but this is a beleaguered business that continues to be plagued (sorry about the pun) by negative publicity and horror story after horror story: most recently the Corona-haven, Diamond Princess. Robotic bartenders might have seemed like a gimmick at the time, but ironically might be the only way of getting a drink when the real bartender is under quarantine. 

Has this industry evolved enough? Have they innovated quickly enough? Why do they seem to find themselves in the eye of the storm on a regular basis? 

To be sure, there will be opportunities. Like Purell for example. Or even the home connected fitness business, but these are short term bumps that over time don’t make a dent on the sands of time and forces of change. 

So if you are a company feeling the pressure right now, you are not alone. Take solace in that, but at the same time, the sooner you come to terms with the fact this is business as usual now, the quicker you will be able to react or “proact”, adapt, evolve and ultimately transform.

Here’s a free friendly tip: stay away from Twitter and your real-time witty tweets. Instead, focus on a new kind of brand safety. Take “brand protection precautions” that earn the right to survive each and every day. Complete your Survival Planning Canvas. Embrace your heresy. Prepare a growth plan that has its foundations in VUCA. Live every day as if it was your last. That’s the new cost of doing business. That’s the new currency of success. That’s what it takes to win in a world where Corona is sadly not a beer consumed at your leisure on a tropical island.

Truth Is Stranger Than Truth

I recently returned from an “iMedia” reunion in New Orleans and in-between Hurricanes, dueling pianists, Beignets, Crawfish, Jello syringes, riverboat cruises and beads, there was actually some content! 

Part of gathering together after almost 20 years was to figure out “what’s next” for the industry and this really came down to passing the torch to the next generation of leaders. From mentoring to leaving behind a legacy to doing our part to make sure there is a “next act” for the industry. 

It’s in trouble, in case you didn’t know.

Our small family gathered into small groups and discussed topics relating to fake news, transparency, brand safety and truth. My small group discussed: Truth – the Veracity of Content.

First I had to understand what the word, veracity meant. Still not quite sure I do.

What ensued was quite an amazing conversation (Brian Monahan, you are a saint for trying to keep a semblance of control, order and logic to our table of renegades) about content, advertising and that swampy overlap of the Venn diagram that includes the likes of:

• Native
• Branded Entertainment
• Product Placement
• Influencer Marketing 

 I wish I could tell you that we figured it all out, but we did touch on a few interesting themes:

1. Truth is relative. And it shouldn’t be. Today we hear the phrase, “my truth” a lot. It’s my truth and you can’t tell me I’m wrong, because it’s my truth. Perhaps, but if it’s your truth, then shouldn’t it be my truth as well? Shouldn’t it just be THE truth? We are living through a particularly dynamic, fluid and turbulent time, where truthiness and alternative facts sit on an equal footing as truth. That’s troubling, especially when – as a consumer – you don’t know what to believe anymore. We debated whether truth is subjective, whereas facts are objective. 2 + 2 = 4, right? Er, not if you were following the impeachment trial. Fact: The glass is half full. No. Fact: It is half empty… 
2. Disclosure. It’s the truth serum in an otherwise pit of despair. If the simplest solution is often the correct one, then this is about as close to the truth…as truth itself. Put differently (because I’m not sure that last statement made sense), disclosure is an absolutely critical – and inarguably mandatory – part of the solution. Consumers should never be in doubt when they are being sold to versus informed versus manipulated. Editorial content is different to advertorial content is different to native content is different to advertising “content.” I don’t care if it sullies your beautiful creative; you need to let consumers know “in real time” when somebody paid somebody to hawk their wares in front of you!
3. Bar Part 1. Everyone should play by the same flawed rules. Whether you call it standardization or not, every single medium should be held to the same account when it comes to disclosure and speaking of which, fast talking disclaimers, fast scrolling small print that occurs at the end of the show and other poor practices don’t cut the muster. 
4. Bar Part 2. This doesn’t mean lowering bar to conform. We clearly need to raise the bar and if “bad actors” cannot meet these standards, then they need to leave Tribal Council immediately!
5. Good Housekeeping Seal. Why not? Why has no one stepped forward to create some kind of universal rating system that provides two key disclosures: 1) A clear line between content and commerce (commercials) and 2) Within the content, some kind of a truth meter indicator. 
6. Who you gonna call? It’s most certainly not the trade associations. Sorry IAB, ANA, AAAA’s, you haven’t exactly done anything of substance to date, so why should we trust you now to step up? What about the corporation? Have you read, “Built to Suck?” It’s all well and good to hear P&G’s Marc Pritchard threaten to pull his advertising from sites or platforms that don’t adhere to some basic standard of brand safety governance and disclosures; it’s another thing to act on it. One thing is for sure, if the top 10 advertisers all complied, things would change overnight. Oh, hi Facebook! What about government? Well, that’s kind of where it’s all going….but who trusts the government now? Which brings me to the startup community. I’ve always believed in the entrepreneurial revolution and as much as we might fear AI, I could very well imagine a scenario that looks like this, thanks to natural language processing, augmented reality etc.

Key:

• E = May contain Embellishment 
• BI = Borrowed Interest
• NV = Claims not Verified 

 Any takers out there? 

 As we approach the 20th year anniversary of iMedia, it’s always disheartening to be debating some of the same issues we were 20 years ago. That said, some of these issues were being debated decades before that. 

So will we still be having the same conversations in 20 years’ time? I’ll go out on a limb and say categorically….definitely NOT. I believe we’ll figure things out over the near future – most likely through necessity, but perhaps through ingenuity – because if we don’t, there won’t be a future. And I’m not just talking about media here; I’m talking about (editorial content,) so go stick that up your veracity! 

Unpopular Brooklyn Half

First of all, let me thank New York Roadrunners for giving me this week's column. Yes, that was a bit snarky, but genuinely I appreciate the content inspiration.

Secondly, I expect (in fact I hope) some fans to defend @nyrr. They tried their best. Give them a pass. Cut them some slack. No doubt! This is the power of advocacy after all. 

On Wednesday, January 22nd at 12 noon, registration opened for the popular Brooklyn Half Marathon. 

A bit of context:

• The half marathon is sponsored by Popular Bank. I had never heard of the brand and I actually had to do some digging to find out who they are. So there's a positive outcome from this story off the bat.
• It's one of the most popular races in the country. Last year, there were 26,841 finishers. I was registered but sadly had to bow out with an injury.
• It starts at the Brooklyn Museum, travels through Prospect Park, and ends at the iconic Coney Island boardwalk.

This year, myself and two other runners were at our respective computer screens around 11.45am gearing up to snap up our registrations before the race filled up. This typically happens within 30 minutes. We noticed a new procedure with what appeared to be a "virtual line." On the surface, this makes sense and actually humanizes the idea of waiting in a non-physical line.

All looked good until the registration went live. At this point, there was a message that the line was paused and then around 12.15pm, I was informed I was 25 minutes away from registered. This went down to 10 minutes and then suddenly shot up to 48 minutes and soon over an hour.

I was bewildered and turned to Twitter and it was only through Twitter that I was able to ascertain an incredibly embarrassing and frustrating #EPICFAIL.

Around 12.22pm, @nyrr informed there was some kind of technical glitch and you'll see my response to @nyrr around 12.41pm

New York Road Runners did not post again until around 1.21pm when they informed the problem would be fixed within the hour and if it wasn't, they would consider rescheduling the registration.

Rescheduling was clearly the consensus based on Twitter responses: 

 So what happened? 

• The problem was NOT fixed within the hour 
• Registration went live again around 4pm 
• At no point did any e-mails go out to inform people of this  
• I assume this was listed on their website and then there was Twitter.  
• All in all, 11 tweets were issued from @nyrr's account. This included 2 tweets about the registration nearing capacity and 1 apology (see below)

Fortunately for me, my running partners texted me registration was open around 4.15pm. If they hadn't I wouldn't have known and probably wouldn't have been able to register. I got in.

OK, so what were the learnings? This post is not - only - about beating up on @nyrr. If indeed President Capiraso is serious and committed to be better in the future, then the bullets below should help him and @nyrr. You're welcome!

1. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Or, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Brooklyn Half registration worked fine in the past, so while the bright and shiny object of a virtual queue makes sense, doesn't mean it's a better option.
2. Personally, I like this idea, BUT I would manage expectations and in this case reassure someone who is waiting for 30 minutes for example that they WILL get in...but just need to be patient. Nothing worse than getting to the end of the line and being disappointed.
3. The most egregious mistake here is that this was not QA'd or stress tested. At least, I can't imagine it was. How could they not anticipate the demand and the rush? Or the partner they used? Did they try and do it themselves? Did they cut corners and costs in terms of implementation? This really is unacceptable. 
4. Every company. Every company must plan for every single campaign, launch or program prepared for both best and worst case scenarios. In some cases, it might be the same thing I.e. the website crashes. It's not ok to be surprised if you are a corporate.
5. When the problem happened, the clock was ticking for @nyrr to figure out a solution. And quickly. As per (4), they should have had a plan. Enter Twitter...THE greatest direct-to-customer-service channel ever known to business. And yet how few companies actually take advantage of this. 
6. @nyrr should have been communicating early and often versus what appeared to be 2 tweets within an hour.
7. @nyrr should have been responsive. As of today, they still haven't responded to extremely frustrated and despairing customers. Including me. Michael Capiraso - the gauntlet is thrown. Reach out to me. Acknowledge this post and my frustration. I don't expect you to be subscribed to this newsletter (although you should), but surely someone knows someone who knows someone who knows you...
8. @nyrr should have enlisted the help and support of their base. Help us spread the word!!!!
9. @nyrr should have been more decisive. They should have postponed registration and given advance notice for new registration, for example a day later at 12 noon EST.
10. The "additional entries" approach is interesting. Clearly there were going to be a lot of people who didn't end up getting in that should have based on clearing their calendar at 12 noon EST. I wonder what happened here. Surely this opened the door to every single person who didn't get in jumping on this bandwagon. 
11. As bad a situation as this was, there was so many ways @nyrr could have turned lemons into lemonade. Examples: complimentary AND guaranteed entry in next year's Brooklyn Half, guaranteed entry into the TCS NYC Marathon (very hard to get in)
12. At the end of the day, people are reasonable (at least most are.) Where @nyrr screwed up is that they didn't respect people's time; they didn't empathize. People took over an hour of their work week AND still might not have made it in to the race. Just the ability to express true remorse, humanity and empathy goes a long way. 
13. In a situation like this, complete transparency is the only way to go 
14. e-mail. e-mail. e-mail. @nyrr used e-mail to remind people the day before, so why not during? Why not after? As of today, I still haven't seen the apology letter in my in-box. Twitter and nyrr.org is fine, but that's not on your customer's terms. Your website is your home field. Twitter is a neutral venue. Your customer's in-box is their home. 
15. Maybe you think I was too harsh in my criticism, but as per tweet, if they were a business (and they kind of are), they would be OUT of business. As per my Instagram quotable from last week, "you don't get a second chance to make a good first impression" BUT "you DO get a second chance to make a good second impression." 

 It's not how you start...it's how you finish and that analogy is perfect for a half marathon!

People don’t care how much you know because they know how soon you’ll go

Years ago in my professional career, I was introduced to one of the oldest and most well-known axioms in the business – and certainly when it comes to sales: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
 
The idea behind this was very simple: relationship trumps transactions. A prospective buyer is going to give the business to someone he or she knows, trusts, respects and can count on when the chips are down. This becomes so much more valuable than the lowest CPM or negotiated price per widget.
 
…but what happens when you’ve spent all that time cultivating a meaningful and enduring relationship, only to find that your contact is no longer there? 
 
When trying to break into a new company or establish a new account, it’s actually a lot more challenging. Why? Because Nepotism rules Bro-K. New hires tend to bring in their cronies and inner circle and while you might argue this is exactly the solution, namely the power of relationships prevail and will allow for seamless transitions from one organizational swamp to another, it sucks for those new to the game. 
 
The marketing world is fraught with a declining CMO tenure and it’s not just the length of the job at hand, but also the quality of the time spent…or perhaps I should say, the lack thereof. So little time is spent cultivating relationships because the real focus and energy is being spent on developing political alliances, building fiefdoms and inevitably looking for the next “opportunity” and timing to jump ship.
 
So if you’re salesperson (and aren’t we all salespeople at the end of the day?), startup founder looking to get funding etc, what can you do about it?
 
Here are 6 tips:

1. Invite more people to join the meeting. I know that’s counter-intuitive because we’re all actively trying to reduce the number of attendees
2. Send a follow-up in writing and cc others in the department
3. Ask to be apprised of any HR changes. Ask and ye shall receive. Watch the trades and after a round of layoffs or the umpteenth reorg, try and understand which changes impact your business. 
4. Ask for intros to replacement personnel. Seems simple enough.
5. Need to know contact details of attendees? Just look at the calendar invite ahead of a meeting and voila. And if that isn’t disclosed, take the time to write down names, titles and something interesting about everyone when they do introductions. Pay attention!
6. Finally, match up everyone to their LinkedIn profile. Do this before the meeting as part of your homework and afterwards in advance of any follow up

 
At the end of the day, the nature of the beast is that this game of musical chairs is not going to stop any time soon, but you can improve your odds of moving forward even when everyone else is taking a step back.

The Chief Consistent Officer

I recently sat down with a Chief Marketing Officer of a very well known brand in the cosmetics and skincare space and we were chatting about everyone's favorite topic...the death of the CMO (see Marketoonist below) ...or at least the evolving role and nature of the job responsibility.

We discussed the continuous revolving door of the CMO position, the declining tenure and how in an increasing number of cases, companies are not even replacing a departed CMO.

Thankfully, Coca-Cola just realized the error of their ways by reinstating the global CMO role two years after the fact.

We also discussed the rise of the Chief Growth Officer and I remain fairly optimistic that should the CMO morph into the Chief Growth Officer, that would demonstrate positive adaption of the role to current conditions and evolutionary forces. That of course assumes (and it's a big assumption) that the artist formally known as CMO possesses the right mix and balance of skills and talent, with which to assume this opportunity. 

All of the above makes for an interesting and ongoing conversation and debate, but none of it answers a gaping question: WHY? Why is all of this happening? And then my conversation mate said something which really struck me...consistency or rather the lack thereof. She posited that it was because of the incredible inconsistency of responsibilities and expectations of the Chief Marketing role that has give rise to all of the volatility, instability and churn.

I couldn't agree more.

Wikipedia gives us this insight into the discussion: The CMO is responsible for facilitating growth, sales and marketing strategy. They must work towards objectives such as revenue generation, cost reduction, or risk mitigation. 

Slick Wiki also gives us this zinger: The unpredictable effect of marketing efforts, coupled with the need to drive profits, often leads to a short tenure for most CMOs.

Let's analyze both statements, shall we?

1. Growth is what I call the prime directive and it's all over "Built to Suck" - book, keynote, workshop, T-shirt and scrumptious pie! 
2. Historically Sales & Marketing have been as synergistic as oil and water when it comes to collaboration and support in an organization
3. Revenue generation, cost reduction and risk mitigation is just missing the forth objective, the kitchen sink! Seriously? Is that all? I'm all for revenue generation but that is core business strategy and when you won't let the CMO into the board room, how exactly do you expect their viral videos and real time tweets to generate "revenue?"
4. Then you have the double-edged of cost reduction which highlights perhaps the difficulty of achieving more with less or more from less. Cost-cutting is antithetical to the objectives of growth and revenue generation. You have to give to get. It's basic investment theory! 
5. Finally, we have risk mitigation and I am reminded of a great quote which runs to the effect of, "CMO's got to where they got to, not by managing risk but by mitigating it." Again, this runs counter to what the CMO should be doing and it explains why tenure is continuously under threat.
6. Which brings us to the word "unpredictable" and it's a deeply problematic word. Are we talking about art versus science? Or is this just a euphemism for CMO's who just love 30-second spots or "video" and their annual pilgrimage to Cannes? Or should it rather be talking about measurement versus projection?

Whichever way you look at it, it is the lack of uniformity and standardization of the role - and with it the lack of understanding of that role throughout the organization - that has led to this precipitous decline in credibility and worth in the organization. We don't have this confusion or ambiguity with a COO or CFO and we don't see this with product development or research, so why is marketing left out in the cold?

Moreover, if you had to compare and contrast the CMO's from the world's leading brands, you would indeed struggle to find enough commonalities or consistencies to put into a one-pager LinkedIn job spec.

Perhaps it's time to create a uniform lens, rubric or dare I say, standards, with which to evaluate and merchandise the marketing function within an organization. Instead of a Chief Confused Officer or a Chief Muddled Officer, let's associate a consistent set of beliefs, capabilities and competencies with this mission critical role.

So let's celebrate the Chief Consistent Officer, shall we?

After all, it is the role that single handedly has to deliver growth, sales, marketing strategy, revenue generation, cost reduction and risk mitigation...and let's not forget all those viral videos and real time tweets!

Pelot-on or Pelot-off?

So unless you’ve been living underneath a media-free rock for the past week, you should be aware of the kerfuffle in a kettle or tempest in a teapot about the holiday Peloton commercial. 
  
The backlash has been pretty unanimous with allegations including “tone deaf”, “dystopian”, “Black-Mirroresque”, â€œhorror movie”, sexism and spousal abuse.
 
Why? Because we’re looking at an already thin woman who has been gifted a bike by her husband because apparently she needs to lose weight. Just look at her in the commercial…she looks terrified, right?

Or as @clueheywood put it:

Look I don’t want to be “The Peloton Ad Guy” anymore but the newest commercial about the vlogging 116 lb woman’s YEARLONG fitness journey to becoming a 112 lb woman who says “I didn’t realize how much this would change me” is just ri-god-damn-diculous. Come on.

This video spoof from Eva Victor (@evaandheriud) has actually been viewed almost as much as the original commercial (roughly 4 million at the time of writing this article.)
 
And it doesn’t stop there, the press or “earned media” has been prolific, from mainstream media to “off-broadway” lists like this one.
 
To add insult to injury or perhaps I should say fuel to the fire, Peloton’s “apology” has been panned:
 
"While we're disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial, we are encouraged by--and grateful for--the outpouring of support we've received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate."
 
Critics, crisis communication professionals and social media elite have offered up their 2c with advice to the tune of:
 
One is to actually apologize: We were surprised by some of the responses to our holiday ad. In retrospect, it’s clear that some people found it sexist and misinterpreted the dynamic between the woman and her husband. We made a poor choice in how we portrayed this dynamic, which was supposed to show an uplifting journey. We apologize for offending people and airing the insensitive ad. In the future, we’ll include a diverse set of women in the group that vets ads here in the hopes of projecting a more positive and inclusive set of messages that are consistent with how Peloton actually feels about its customers.
 
Another is to vigorously defend yourself: Although our ad apparently offended lots of people, it reflects our values and we continue to be proud of it. A woman encourages her husband to buy her a Peloton in her journey to fitness. After hard work, she accomplishes her goals. It makes no difference what size and shape the customer is tous — we want to encourage everyone to take charge of their wellness journey and improve. We’ll continue to do all we can to encourage everyone to take charge of their fitness, and we hope you will join us in that.
 
As an aside, the original video on YouTube has 8.6K Thumbs Ups, 15K Thumbs Downs and comments are turned off.
 
So what do I think? Do you care? I will do you the service of not rehashing all the noise from the Interwebs. Instead, I’ll try and give you some original thoughts.
 
Personally, my wife said she’d love it if I would buy her a Peloton bike for the holidays and she definitely doesn’t need to lose weight. Speaking of which, does the commercial mention anything about weight loss? It doesn’t. 
 
Regardless, this is one big FAT #firstworldproblems debate about nothing.  Peloton is a kick-ass product. I don’t have one. I wish I did. Everyone and I mean everyone who has one loves it carnally. It is a bit of a cult and that’s ok. Maybe that’s why comparisons to the move “Get Out” have been made, but that’s it…
 
Honestly, the only misstep in this commercial is the disconnect between the strategic brief and the creative execution. The clear objective was to introduce Peloton as a gift for the holidays. At $2,245 a pop, it’s one hell of a gift!
 
Looking back now, it’s easy to see an execution where the husband (let’s make HIM overweight) sneaks down in the middle of the night to ride the bike.
 
Ultimately, it comes down to this. On the downside, Peloton saw $942 million in market value wiped out in a single day amid backlash to its controversial holiday ad (PTON) or $1.5bn in 3 days. That puts them back at the same level as…wait for it….November 27 (or thereabouts). In other words, just off their all time high.
 
On the upside, we’re talking about an earned media jackpot. 
 
Remember, this product is great. Keep reminding yourselves that. This product is incredible. People swear by it. Peloton has disrupted the entire gym industry and even the specialists like Soul Cycle, Joyride (less so with CyClub â€“ that’s my sister’s cycling club in London, which is awesome!)
 
The only advice I would give is to everyone BUT Peloton. I’m with Bill Maher on this. We need to get a grip on reality and maintain a degree of perspective. The political correctness and sensitivity right now is in danger of spinning (I made a funny) out of control. 
 
Let’s call this what it is, not the smartest move from the marketing department, but certainly not malicious. 
 
Peloton does not need to advertise. If ever there was an example of a company that embodies the principles of Z.E.R.O. or Flip the Funnel, it’s this one. Embrace that and leave the advertising to the companies that really do need to put lipstick on a pig!

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Sharenting Shmarenting

The New York Times posted a fake news video about a new buzzword that is sure to give “woke” and “ok boomer” a run for their money as candidates for Merriam-Webster’s’ word of the year.

It’s “sharenting” and before I “share” the definition, I will say that I am guilty as charged.

Sharenting (noun)

When parents overshare photos and other data about their children on social media.

The video profiles “first generation children that inherited a social media presence, and privacy risks, they didn’t ask for.” As a former strategic and account planner, I do appreciate this unique positioning and perspective of “unwilling inheritance.” That said, I also push back on the idea that this poor generation has been forced to accept their smart phone and all the accouterments that go with it.

You’ll get no opposition on the privacy component from me of course.

One of the kids in the video explains that the reason she is upset by this is because of “how aware I am of the implications of the digital footprint” and then proceeds to explain that in France, kids can sue their parents for sharing too much about them. Honestly, part of me wishes we could be back in a time where corporal punishment was considered to be a sign of good parenting. I’m kidding, but if this kid is so concerned about her “digital footprint,” perhaps she should have her phone taken away and go on a strict digital detox diet.

Yeah, right. Like that’s going to happen any time soon.

OK, let’s take a step back and let me share the data points. They’re all very salient.

• By age 5, the average kid has 1,500 photos of them online
• Over 90% of American children have a social media presence by age 2
• By 2030, parents sharing about their kids online could account for up to 7 million incidents of identity theft and over $800 million in online fraud

Now let me make a few value statements:

• Old fogeys like you and me (I’m assuming you’re not a first generation inheritor) don’t really have a clue what we’re doing with social media
• Young bucks (first generation inheritors) don’t have a clue what they’re doing with life
• Both groups don’t have a clue about the long term implications that will come from things like constant exposure to mobile phones around your brain, heart and groin; addiction and moreover the impact on interpersonal relationships, connection in general, psychosis and social related disorders. Just look at the massive epidemic of gun-related violence in the United States if you need any proof.

Perhaps we can learn from each other?

To their credit, First Generation Inheritors (or FGI’s) have naturally and innately figured out an acceptable operating system and/or rules of engagement associated with social media. Look at your teenager’s Instagram account for example:

• Pretty much all of them are private. You didn’t need to tell them to do this.
• You may very well be waiting (and waiting and waiting) for them to accept your friend request and if not, you’ve probably created a fake account so you can stalk them (admit it!)
• They have a sum total of 3 photos on their entire Instagram account. By contrast, I have 1,902.
• A birthday greeting or congratulations is done via disposable story versus any permanent posting (which anyway would be deleted – see the earlier point)
• They are incredibly deliberate and almost Machiavellian in terms of what they post; who is in the photos; who is tagged
• The captions to the photos are almost in code. Esoteric and bizarre, but not as bizarre as…
• …the comments which are basically as insightful as watching paint dry and yet, they are equally deliberate.
• There really is no bad news (or if so, it’s delivered via code)

In the me-too era, where consent has to be explicit, unambiguous and vocal, FGI’s demand the same when it comes to sharenting. It is “about the asking” and without it, kids demand veto power.

I won’t lie. I’ve run into this with my kids and after countless battles, I inevitably back down. I now have to ask. I don’t believe I need to, but I think that ship has sailed.

Honestly, I don’t think either side really knows what the hell they are doing. The only thing I can say is that neither side is right. And neither is wrong either. Moreover, this isn’t binary at all. This isn’t about right or wrong. This is about compromise and balance. 

While I wrote a fair amount of this piece with intentional snark, sarcasm and irreverence (that would be the stuff you gasped at most likely, including - but not limited to - the fake New York Times quip because I might have had a different opinion to the one being presented - HA!), I did it to make a point. I’d rather take the side of the FGI’s than their parents’. I think we owe it to our kids to help them figure it out and learn from and with them. I think the technology providers need to be a lot more proactive in terms of helping us figure this out as well.

Perhaps we need a United Nations of Social Media or judiciary system to create and enforce rules of engagement. What is acceptable? What is unacceptable? What is up for debate? It would change based on age of course. It could even become part of a contract when a kid is given a phone and therefore, include things like screen time.

I welcome you to weigh in with your perspective. Post comments and suggestions where appropriate on what you believe these rules of engagement should look like. I also invite FGI’s, as well as their parents, to post rebuttals or builds on top of this conversation starter.

I don’t welcome being shamed into wanting to share photos of my family with my friends and family, but at the same time, “a million of my closest strangers” should not be afforded that same luxury and the last time I checked, that is called Instagram or Facebook and has become a new normal that in reality is anything but…

To note: I vetted this first with my college daughter and my wife 

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If the Founding Fathers were the Founder Fathers

We are living in a highly polarized society where you are either a Republican or Democrat. In this world, if the donkey says up, the elephant says down. If the elephant says white, the donkey says black. I chose those colors on purpose. And seemingly when positions get reversed, both sides flip-flop and take 180-degree positions, despite all the tweets and written record that proves otherwise.

It’s quite sad really.

It’s also detrimental to the future of this democracy, especially when factoring in Darwinian proof of concept that states, “it is not the strongest of species that survives; nor the most intelligent, but rather the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

• Strong we are (thanks, Yoda)
• Intelligent is debatable.
• But what about adaptable to change?

Take the very foundation of our election system. The Electoral College.

While I respect why it exists and was created in the first place, the methodology today is flawed. It’s broken. It’s no ones fault. It’s a direct result and product of technology. It’s yet another example of a business model that has been disrupted and disintermediated. So maybe it’s time we look at it like the Toll Booth business (when last did you see an actual toll-booth operator?) and join the irreparable march of progress.

Or get left behind.

So let me state my case and make my argument.

1. When did this hyper-partisanship and polarization begin? Or at least when did it snowball out of control? I would argue Bush v Gore and more recently, Trump v Clinton. In both cases, the Democrat won the Popular Vote, but lost the election. Translation: More than 50% of the country felt they got robbed.  
2. Most of the country doesn’t vote. Why? Because we didn’t “Rock the Vote” enough? Because people don’t watch MTV anymore? No, because their vote doesn’t count. It doesn’t matter. If you live in California or New York, you might as well put all your energy into sending angry tweets to the President, showing up at an AOC rally or growing your hipster beard, but your vote isn’t going to change a damn thing. So who’s vote does?
3. The swing states of course. Where Ohio goes, so does the Nation. Is that fair? Is it fair that – for the most part – only a handful of States determine the election outcome? How democratic is that?
4. Which brings us to the “The Median Voter Theory” – a theory that has been widely held for the longest time; one that recognizes only a fraction of voters will inevitably tip the scales in one or the other direction. For the most part, these voters most likely register themselves as “Independents” and they hold all the power. It stands to reason that if we can identify them by name, address, social security number or most recently, MAID (Mobile Advertising ID), we can focus our limited resources on winning them over, right? 
5. Last election (2016), it got even more precise; more scientific; more granular, thanks to Jared and his microtargeting precision approach. Trump’s campaign zeroed in on specific households in specific neighborhoods in specific districts in specific states to great effect. This was like a GPS laser targeted missile sent from an AI-powered drone and the result was perfection.

Yes, the argument can be made that the Republicans were just better Digital Marketers than the Democrats. That’s fair. And all is fair in love and electioneering. Today we have a plethora of data and analytical tools; a litany of programmatic, native and automated approaches. Why not take full advantage of them?

Sure, some of the methods were questionable, especially when factoring in Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, Wikileaks and the Russians. It’s debatable of course based on which cage in the zoo you sit.

My opinion is irrelevant. I’m just an immigrant, citizen and voter of one in a State (Connecticut), where my vote doesn’t count.

I wonder what our framers and founding fathers would say, were they alive today? Would they dig their heels in to preserve an antiquated system or would they act like scrappy founders and pivot their fledgling democracy prototype in order to arrive at a better proof of concept?

I doubt Republicans will ever win the Popular Vote again, which makes everything in this op-ed piece a non-starter (even though I’m right!) The United States of America continues to become ever more diverse and a true melting pot. White dudes continue to dwindle in terms of percentages and at some point; there will be enough rainbow voters (even with all the apathy) to put them (The Republican Party) out of business. That’s a fact. So is the reality that the Republicans are one election loss away from being plunged into the kind of chaos that can only end up with some kind of cathartic and massive restructure or transformation.

Sounds like your standard case of disruption to me!

So what should it be replaced with? The Popular Vote obviously, which I believe is pretty much the standard or norm everywhere in the developed and democratic world. Dictators, Autocrats and Communists not included!

Of course, if you’re a Republican, you’re going to blindly and categorically disagree with me and if you’re a Democrat, you’ll blindly and vehemently agree with my recommendation.

Which is perhaps why we’re in this mess in the first place!

The Hypocrisy of Brands

My latest Ad Age column is here.

Look at any definition of the words "brand" or "brands" or "branding" and you’ll get a seemingly consistent triangulation of words and phrases along the lines of: The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers' mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme.

The key word here is "consistent."

Go into a McDonald's in Siberia and you’ll get the same Big Mac as the one in South Africa (albeit, perhaps a little more frozen). Walk into a Niketown in New York and you'll find you can “just do it” as easily as you can in Barcelona. This consistency must permeate every single aspect of the brand in order to be reinforced and delivered. From customer service to store experience to product quality to design to—you guessed it—the look and feel of communications.

The latter is where readers of this article are most likely to over-index. Whether you call it your Brand Playbook, Brand Bible or the more common moniker of Brand Guidelines, it is where where marketing has become frozen in time and has really failed to make any headway or progress in terms of evolution or innovation for the most part.

I am reminded of the obscenity of the Arnell Group charging Pepsi more than $1 million to refine and redesign the Pepsi logo and with it, the ridiculous dissertation of all the science and black-box precision that went into creating what was, essentially, a knockoff of the Obama logo.

Consistency in branding design and communications has become a one-size-fits-all-approach that has its talons locked into cost-cutting (one photo shoot that must serve the entire world). Deviate from the corporate mandate at your peril.

And then along comes Google and every single day embraces a heresy of bastardizing its own logo.

Inside out

So why the title, “The hypocrisy of brands?” It’s because the external, consumer- or shareholder-facing world of consistency is absolutely not mirrored inside the corporation. Instead we find a never-ending vicious cycle of company re-orgs, restructures, budget cuts, hiring freezes, key c-suite defections and of course the dreaded but inevitable agency review and search.

It's not so much a question of whether or not you have experienced any of these events over the past 12 month, rather: "How many of them have you had?”

Think about it. How is it possible to gain any momentum; any semblance of impetus for growth, endurance, follow-up or follow-through—especially on newer, more cutting-edge, riskier or innovative projects—when there is a constant undermining or disruption of progress?

It seems that every time we get our noses in front, they get chopped off (generally by ourselves!) It’s little wonder the end product is often underwhelming and a shadow of its potential.

Changing guards

And whenever a new person enters the picture, often their first port of call will be to fire the incumbents that were attached to the person they replaced and surround themselves instead with their own people from their previous positions. Then of course they’ll terminate existing work streams, pause any projects in the approval pipeline and embark on their own fact-finding, discovery or immersion tour de force—wasting 6 or more months to arrive at a foregone conclusion: it's time for a new agency.

Instead, I would recommend issuing a moratorium on change. I know it might sound like a giant contradiction to advocate against change but in this case I’m being deadly serious. Anyone coming into a new position should be obliged to pick up the ball and run with it. An incoming c-suite executive should be banned from changing—or even considering changing—the existing agency or partner structure for 12 months. 

Guarding changes

If we truly want to modernize—or even save—brands, then it is critical that we ensure that what happens inside the organization truly represents and projects what is being seen and/or perceived outside of the company. Anything else is just a sham on the continuum of keeping up appearances or, worse, an egregious deception that will eventually lead to the demise of the brand—and ultimately the corporation.

If the price of entry for survival is consistency, then it’s about time we figure out how to treat our toxic and possibly terminal condition of corporate and brand schizophrenia.

Photo Credit: iStock and Ad Age

Built to Suck: The Inevitable Demise of College…and how to save it?

I’ve just gone through the college admissions process for the first time. Both my wife and I are immigrants and so this was the first time we had experienced this incredibly complex new world.

Turns out you need a college degree in order to be able to apply for college!

On the upside (and I always reward ingenuity and the entrepreneurial spirit), there is a cottage industry of executive counselors, admissions consultants and SAT/ACT tutors that are making a pretty penny on alpha-moms and dads, and their kids intent on being firstto post — or perhaps I should say boast — to Instagram, Snapchat and Facebbok with their early decision conquests.

For those outside of the United States, US colleges have what’s called Early Decision (only one college can be selected and the decision is binding), Early Action (like the name suggests and non binding) and then Regular Decision. When Early Decisions are announced, social media lights up with elated students (but really their parents) who have absolutely no regard whatsoever for all the students (and their families) who are bitterly disappointed, dejected and even depressed.

This needs to stop by the way.

There are even courses like Kaplan and Princeton that help improves scores (legally.) And then there’s the massive scandal that is busy rippling through the newswires showing…surprise, surprise…you can game the system that games the system. Think about it, how many of the 5 criteria are really game-proof? How many of the essays submitted were really done by the student themselves?

Kids get swept up in this artificial boiler cooker of pressure and expectations, going through robotic motions of perceived status. They lose sight of priorities and common sense at the expense of likes and the common app.

Even the airlines and hotels enjoy making money from on-campus visits and speaking of which, that raises a whole different anxiety, for example: will they or won’t they bias in our favor for showing up and listening to the same stale jokes in every informational session….sorry, little brothers and sisters, that was for you!

At the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold — only it’s not a pot waiting for the graduate, but rather a big IOU that has them on the back foot, drowning in debt that most students will struggle to pay back their entire lives.

According to research from the Federal Reserve, each $1,000 increase in debt causes a one- to two-percentage-point drop in the home-ownership rate of student loan borrowers during their late 20s and early 30s.

With the exception of the top students at the top universities, graduating students are going to get an entry-level job paying no where what they need, but…hard work, persistence and elbow grease will eventually see them rising up the corporate ladder.

As they become successful, they’ll hear from their alumni colleges urging them to contribute to various fundraising initiatives, scholarships and financial aid budgets to pave the way for students of and in the future.

To me, the college business model is broken. It’s full of friction. It’s full of inequality. It’s full of inefficiency. It has failed to evolve and it is not inconceivable, using the same filter that says, “the corporate empire is coming to an end,” that US colleges could go the same way.

So perhaps it’s time for them to embrace their heresy and put themselves out of business? This is a concept I have built out and expanded in my book, “Built to Suck” and it couldn’t apply more appropriately to colleges. In this case, the ultimate heresy would be to make all colleges free (before President Bernie does.)

Sound far-fetched? It isn’t and I even have a plan how to do it!

Utilizing the Survival Planning Canvas, which I created for Built to Suck and my company, the HMS Beagle, I’ve filled out the beginnings of a survival and growth plan and doing so, I came up with what I think could disrupt the entire industry and in doing so, fix part of the massive image and credibility crisis all colleges are going to have to contend with.

Turns out Bernie was right! All colleges should be free…or at a minimum, costs should be covered. The college would then take a 1% equity stake in their graduates future earnings and net worth. Of course, students could opt out and go with the status quo; in other words, paying now versus over time. Kind of like a lump sum versus annuity when winning the lottery, but in reverse.

Perhaps this would continue until the student has paid what would have been their full tuition adjusted for inflation and the like. Or perhaps it would continue in perpetuity. It could even be adjusted to provide a reduced, albeit steady yearly contribution to the colleges that would be an automatic philanthropic source of cash flow.

I’ll leave it up the actuaries to work on specifics, but for now, I think this idea is worth exploring in a truly bi-partisan fashion. I can’t see either of the dumb and dumber parties having a problem with this.

And as for the admissions scandal, that’s another canvas for another day...

Quotes from Built to Suck

After a bit of a hiatus, I've switched on the e-mail newsletter digest which will aggregate daily posts into a single newsletter - of which I will send out once a week max (twice at a push.)

I'll be focusing a lot on "Corporate Survival", "Survival Planning", "Startup Growth" and related topics associated with disruption, innovation and change.

Most importantly, I'll try and give you exponentially more than I take. 

For example, here is the link to a Slideshare deck, which contains a bunch of quotes from my new book, "Built to Suck: The Inevitable Demise of the Corporation...and how to save it?" Every week, I've been uploading 1-2 on my Instagram account (and related social media hubs.)

The deck contains these composite images and you are free to use them however you wish (creative commons attribution applies.)

If you like these quotes, I assure, it's just the tip of the iceberg and so if you want much, much more and accompanying context, please consider purchasing a copy of the book...and eventually reviewing it on Amazon.

 

 

Byte Sized Wisdom from Built to Suck

As you probably know, my 5th (and if I may say so, my best yet) book, "Built to Suck: The Inevitable Demise of the Corporation...and how to save it?" was published last month. You can purchase it here.

I'll be doing a bunch of things to celebrate, support and promote the book, but for now, I wanted to share these quotable which I will be rolling out twice to three times a week.

Each one contains a quote from the book and you are free to share, republish and/or use for your own presentations etc (with creative commons attribution of course)

Hope you like them and hope you like the book!

Jaffe Juice #190 - Built to Suck Q&A with Serial Marketer's David Berkowitz

 I recently sat down with David Berkowitz AKA @seriamarketer. 

David has set up a Serial Marketers Slack Channel - you can request access here.

I was the first of his Zoom video interviews in collaboration with the community talking about Built to Suck. 

Buy the book here.

If you have any questions for me and/or about the book, just call in +1 (203) 689-8661 and leave a message. I'll play your voice recording and answer your question in a dedicated episode.

You can download or listen live here or of course subscribe to the podcast via iTunes etc.

 

 

Jaffe Juice #189 - Walk, Climb, Or Fly with Leigh Durst

 Congrats to Leigh Durst on publishing her first book!!!

In this episode, Leigh and I sit down and discuss SxSW, similarities between Built to Suck and Walk, Climb, Or Fly and Spirit Animals.

Buy the book here.

You can become a part of this show, just call in +1 (203) 689-8661 and leave a message.

You can download or listen live here or of course subscribe to the podcast via iTunes etc.

 

 

Jaffe Juice #188 - Call me, Maybe?

In this episode, I respond to David Hachez's question about employees v customer prioritization. I also discuss Delta and Diet Coke's recent "creepy" kerfuffle inviting customers to hit on their "plane crush." Ewwwww.

You can become a part of this show, just call in +1 (203) 689-8661 and leave a message.

You can download or listen live here or of course subscribe to the podcast via iTunes etc.

 

 

Jaffe Juice #187 - Fyre Sale

A Rant of the Week dedicated to the now infamous Fyre Festival that is doing its rounds on Netflix and Hulu with a pretty scathing documentary.

In this episode, I really focus on the Influencer Marketing component of the fiasco.

This week, it was announced that Supermodel "influencers" including Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, Emily Ratajkowski, Elsa Hosk and Kendall Jenner are going to be subpoenaed (as well as their agencies).

What role did they play in promoting this debacle? Should they have done more due diligence? Where was the disclosure? Will this destroy influencer marketing as we know it (and is that a good thing)?

I'll discuss this and cross-reference a post from Jim Tobin who gave his lessons learned.

Listen direct here or subscribe here.

Jaffe Juice #186 - Egghead, Egglikes and Egglogos

Been a little quiet for the past month as it was holidays and all. Plus I started another podcast (a spiritual one) and most importantly, I've been in full-on editing mode for my new book, "Built to Suck" (March, 2019)

Felt inspired to do a new show this morning and keeping to the format of one discussion topic (roughly 10 minutes) and then Winners and Losers, Rant of the Week, listener comments/questions etc.

In this episode, I discuss the imminent Bezos divorce and what that will mean for both Jeff Bezos and the future of Amazon.

In Winners & Losers, I give the American Egg Board the +1 for @world_record_egg's successful attempt at dethroning Kylie Jenner's most liked Instagram post ever. The irony of course is that they probably don't even know about it!

My loser is Mastercard for their groundbreaking new logo and what this says about them and their future.

Listen direct here or subscribe here.

Jaffe Juice #185 - Marketing is Finance is Business

Occasionally I'm going to pepper in an interview or two with fellow authors, influencers, opinion leaders, subject matter experts (you get the drift) and so in this episode, I am pleased to share my conversation with a real life marketer and business leader, Chris Burggraeve. Chris was the global CMO of ABInBev when I met him and over the course of several years, we had the pleasure of working together. 

He's now a consultant, VC, educator, speculator, all around entrepreneur and now...author. 

He's written a book called "Marketing is Finance is Business: How CMO, CFO and CEO cocreate iconic brands with sustainable pricing power in the new Galactic Age." It's a mouthful but that's intentional. This guy knows what he's talking about. He doesn't just talk. He's walked the talk and ultimately, brings a unique perspective you're not going to see/hear every day (or any day)

So give it a listen and enjoy.

More importantly, you can buy the book here. There's a textbook version. A kindle version. And coming soon, the Galactic version (hardcover). Love it.

Or subscribe here.

Disrupting Innovation - A New Course at Reed College of Media taught by me!

I am thrilled to share that I've joined forces with West Virginia University's Reed College of Media.

I'm developing a completely original course titled, "Disruptive Innovation" which I will begin teaching in March of 2019.

Just like writing a book was a bucket list dream of mind (achieved x5), so too was the ability to teach and align myself with academia.

Learn more about the IMC graduate program, faculty and curriculum at http://imc.wvu.edu/

Here's the press release: https://lnkd.in/e7eTYXe

Go Mountaineers :)

Innovation expert to bring talents to West Virginia University

Joseph Jaffe, an established author, entrepreneur and sought-after consultant, is bringing his expertise to the West Virginia University Reed College of Media as an instructor in the Integrated Marketing Communications online graduate program. 

Jaffe is pulling from his experience as a reformed adman, strategic consultant and thought leader to develop and teach a new course, “Disruptive Innovation,” for the spring 2019 term.

Currently the Admiral and co-founder of HMS Beagle, a strategic consultancy that helps clients navigate the journey to survival, Jaffe has spent more than 15 years as an entrepreneur and thought leader on marketing and innovation. His clients have included Nestle, Purina, Colgate-Palmolive, Panasonic, Kraft Foods, and The Coca-Cola Company. 

Jaffe is also the author of four books including landmark “Life after the 30-second spot” and “Flip the Funnel.” His fifth book, “Built to Suck: The Inevitable Demise of the Corporation…and how to save it?” will be published in March, 2019. 

“We are excited to welcome Joseph to our faculty and to launch this innovative, new course in brand survival, “said Chad Mezera, assistant dean of online programs at the College of Media. “Our programs are committed to being at the forefront of marketing communications education, and knowledge of the changing digital landscape is imperative for our students.”  

In this course, students will come up with strategies and tactics to help brands manage changing consumer demands and disruptive technologies, and succeed in shifting market dynamics. This elective course in the IMC master’s degree program will give students exposure to “survival planning” and innovative thinking for modernizing brand growth. 

“Survival planning is entirely new, and it’s completely necessary because today, we’re all in the survival business. Indeed, large corporations are falling and from a marketing standpoint, the next ad campaign, tagline or real-time tweet is not going to move the needle,” said Jaffe. “The stakes are too high. Today’s student is tomorrow’s marketing leader and they need to be equipped with new skills in order to successfully navigate a new business reality.”

Jaffe was a featured speaker at the College of Media’s Integrate West Virginia Conference held in June 2017 in Huntington, West Virginia. 

Hailing from South Africa, he earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cape Town. 

Learn more about the IMC graduate program, faculty and curriculum at  http://imc.wvu.edu/.

 

Jaffe Juice #184 - General Motors gets out the car business

I'm not joking. GM just announced they're stopping production of 6 Sedans. Ford has done something similar. In this episode of Jaffe Juice - the New Marketing Podcast, I discuss. 

There's also a dual winner and loser this week as I riff (or rant) on Wunderman Thompson - the convenient or inconvenient union between Wunderman and J. Walter Thompson (JWT).

You can listen direct or download here and of course subscribe here.

Remember, I'm only a phone call away so if you want to be on the next show, ask a question, make a comment, agree or disagree, build or tear apart by calling +1 (203) 689-8661

This week's show brought to you by Net Cohesion and Bhive Coworking.

Jaffe Juice #183 - Black in Business

I sure hope this works!

After way too much time (I don't even want to calculate), I'm trying to get the ORIGINAL Jaffe Juice - the New Marketing Podcast back up and running.

No author interviews.

Just me. And you.

The original format will reincarnate listener favorites, including - but not limited to the following:

• Winners & Losers
• Rant of the Week
• Listener Comments or Questions - all you have to do is call +1 (203) 689-8661 and leave a voice message which I will play and address

In this week's episode, I talk about Black Friday in advance of the big day and big weekend. 

You can download or listen live Jaffe Juice #183 or of course subscribe to the podcast via iTunes etc.

 

 

The Beagle has Landed

I am thrilled to announce the official launch of my new consultancy, the HMS Beagle.

For those of you who know your history, the HMS Beagle was laid down 200 years ago and on her second voyage, carried a rather conspicuous character by the name of Charles Darwin. It was on this voyage that he formulated many of his groundbreaking theories on Evolution (not Evol8tion but Evolution)

Darwin has a great saying, "it is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent; but rather the one which is the most adaptable to change."

So that's where we come in. We help our clients navigate the journey to survival...because let's face it, we're all in the survival business nowadays. From small startups to large corporations; from an unsuccessful raise to death by a thousand budget cuts.

If the first journey is the one to survival and the generation of a survival plan, then the next is the journey to "thrival" - in other words a growth plan (or a return to growth plan for many larger corporations who yearn for the day where they can grow through organic customer retention and referrals as opposed to buying growth through acquiring revenue)

You'll notice I said, "we" and for the first time in my entrepreneurial career, I'm not going it alone. I have an equal partner in crime - Lynn Power. Lynn was most recently CEO of JWT in New York (I interviewed there when I came to the US in 1997) and before that, President of Arnold, New York.

Lynn and I share the vision that brands today have got to adopt a survival mindset if they are to have any chances of being able to "future protect" themselves (often times, from themselves!) Being able to plan upstream, anticipate future disruption and be adept at pivoting their very value proposition are all part and parcel of the survival mindset.

At the top of the stack is being open to these changes. There are no sacred cows when it comes to survival!

You can find out more at www.thehmsbeagle.com which has a topline overview of our service lines:

• Brand Modernization - are you seaworthy?
• Talent Design - are you equipped with a stellar crew?
• Business Transformation - do you have a course mapped out?

For now we're launching with a series of workshops, which we call voyages. We're able to drill down with any of the three service lines or combine them in our "Maiden Voyage."

So are you ready to set sail? If so....all aboard and anchors aweigh.

Admiral Jaffe

PS The Press Release if you want to Download Jaffe and Power launch The HMS Beagle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Machines 1 Humans 1: Joining forces with The Innovation Scout

By way of context, if you don't know Sarah Fay, you should. I met her about 15 years ago back in the early days of digital. At the time she was running Carat Digital. Since then, she's run Isobar, Aegis Media North America until she left the agency world and now works in the VC business focusing on A.I. 

Sarah introduced my former co-founder, Gina Waldhorn, to me and together Gina and I ran Evol8tion for 5 of the last 6 years.

Earlier this year, she introduced Annette Tonti to me (she co-founded and ran Bluestreak, which would ring a bell for all you Digital "Old Timers") and her Natural Language Processing / AI platform called The Innovation Scout. 

On the surface, I guess I could have viewed them as a competitor, however I've always maintained that in small, nascent and/or emerging sectors, there is no such thing as competitors. The primary goal is to grow the pie and be the rising tide that floats all boats.

That said, the "startup matchmaking" space is pretty crowded with a bunch of players with "database envy" as in "my database is bigger than yours." This, combined with too much bottom of the barrel scrapping (speed dating or what I would call the Tinderfication of Innovation) created the need for a velvet glove, human-based, curated approach. That was Evol8tion and our strategic approach and proprietary process known as BrandMatch took care of the quality control issue, however what was truly needed was some kind of automated and intelligent approach that went way wider and deeper whilst maintaining the "currency" imperative i.e. recognizing the constant churn and revolving door associated with the startups (here today, gone tomorrow)

A while back, we began to develop what we call Pipeline to do just that. Pipeline become a white label version of our own proprietary database that our corporate clients could brand and essentially launch their own "Open Innovation" portal, combined with our existing startups, scoring methodology and brand-friendly classification or segmentation.

Our belief was that Innovation was too important to outsource to a third party and that brands needed to own and take control of their own destiny. The key difference was that too many corporates (you know who you are) have bet the farm by either trying to build it themselves or overpaying one of the 8oo-pound SaaS players to build what is essentially a White Elephant.

The Innovation Scout + Pipeline will offer corporates the best of both worlds and becomes a pretty balanced equilibrium between "man" and "machine".

It's why I have joined The Innovation Scout as a "Super Advisor' (Annette's words) and rolled up Pipeline into a better, cheaper and faster solution. Whereas the Evol8tion approach was a process, The Innovation Scout is a Platform and together 1 + 1 = 3.

The press release is below and you can get a free trial/demo of the platform as part of this launch announcement (just contact me.)

NEW YORK (PRWEB) NOVEMBER 29, 2017

The Innovation Scout announced today that innovation industry pioneer and well-known author Joseph Jaffe is joining their team. Joe joins as an advisor and will focus primarily on Innovation Scout’s Brand Innovation group to help major brands innovate faster and more effectively. Joe has been a pioneer in the art and science of digital innovation as a catalyst towards creating disruptive solutions that accelerate growth.

“More than ever, established companies need to connect with startups to keep them relevant. The Innovation Scout is doing this at scale by using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data to match established companies, guiding them through the innovation process” said Jaffe. “There is too much noise and clutter out there right now to help corporations find relevant connections. A manual, curated approach can only get you so far, however using automation and Machine Learning in tandem, a whole new set of possibilities emerge. AI changes the playing field for innovation and brand executives.”

Through Evol8tion, Joe has provided innovation solutions to brands by connecting startups since 2011. He has worked with a world-class roster of blue chip brands including Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, DPSG, Steelcase, Nestle, Purina, Chobani and Time-Warner.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Joe”, said Annette Tonti, CEO, The Innovation Scout. “He brings extensive experience and new capabilities to our team as a world-class Subject Matter Expert and confidant to senior marketing executives. Joe understands issues of both corporations and startups. That expertise is both rare and necessary to make the Startup – Brand connections work”.

Evol8tion’s proprietary startup database and platform known as Pipeline will now operate under the Innovation Scout umbrella.

Around the globe, corporations are engaging with start-ups to spark innovation, The Innovation Scout is at the heart of this movement. Working to match start-ups with large, legacy corporations to develop incremental and disruptive innovation.

The Innovation Scout offers a SaaS platform and programs that help corporations to discover, assess, engage and run pilots with startups and open research. The platform uses artificial intelligence to match relevant startups with corporate business challenges and to give insight and support across the innovation process.

In celebration of this partnership, The Innovation Scout is offering a trial of their Innovation Scout platform.

In NYC on Thursday? Please be my guest at a startup-brand collaboration event

Yes I know I haven't blogged in about 10 years, but this is as good as any time to get back into to it :)

If you're in NYC on Thursday, November 16th, 8.30-11.30am, please consider yourself my personal guest at an event Evol8tion and Fulton Waters is throwing to celebrate startup-brand collaboration. Here are 10 reasons to attend:

1. It's free

2. There's breakfast

3-6. You'll get to hear from 4 cool startups: Arteria Network, The Innovation Scout, Mavrck and Sympler

7-9. You'll get to hear from a panel including these amazing people: Brian Cohen from New York Angels, Ben James from JWT and Robin Albin who most recently ran Innovation at Estee Lauder

10. I'll be Keynoting with a presentation titled, "The Startup Imperative"

PLUS A power exchange with our sponsor Davis & Gilbert and plenty of networking

We still have place and so if you aren't in NYC and/or can't attend, pay it forward and extend the invite to colleagues, clients etc that you think would enjoy the event.

You can register here.

Hope to see you there! 

The extinction of brands?

Shann Biglione, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis Media Greater China, wrote a terrific article on LinkedIn (hat tip: Eaon Pritchard) titled, “People who predict the death of brands don’t understand why they exist.”

In it, he outlined how harbingers of doom (or marketer serial killers – love it!) who have been harping (or is it harbinging?) on the death of TV, advertising and now ultimately brands, point to 4 contributing factors for this proclamation:

 

1. e-commerce
2. Consumer reviews
3. Decline of mass advertising
4. Artificial Intelligence

He ends the article wonderfully, “Predicting the death of brands fails to understand their Darwinian nature: they do not exist because they were imposed unto us, they exist because of us.”

So I thought I would provide a counterpoint that is less a rebuttle and more a triangulated perspective.

To begin, I think the assertions of “death of” TV, advertising and brands are absolutely connected and evolutionary in nature. TV is a subset (and the biggest component) of advertising; and advertising has been the predominant input or contributing ingredient of the brand recipe. Classic marketing theory has been built upon the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) and it is the P of Promotion that similarly has enjoyed the lion’s share of attention and investment in the Brand Mix.

I wrote, “Life after the 30-second spot” some 13 years ago and in it, I asserted that the 4 P’s have become commoditized. All washing detergents work; all toothpaste cleans; all candy tastes good but is bad for you. Pricing is essentially transparent. Location is ubiquitous. And don’t get me started on the backlash against advertising.

If you think about it, Shann’s 4 variables fit quite nicely into the 4 P’s paradigm:

• consumer reviews would translate into the P of Product AKA you can’t put lipstick on a pig
• e-commerce is probably best aligned with the P of Place
• decline of mass advertising – obviously the P of Promotion
• AI is probably the least obvious, but I guess we can attribute to the P of Price, especially when comparison shopping, recommendations and automated purchasing and renewals make this a much more programmatic decision thread

To be clear, I’m not sure I would necessary “harb” on the same 4 points (I was just reconciling them).

My concern is with the final statement: brands exist because of us and the key word here is “us.” So who is us? It’s not the consumer. It’s Don Draper. It’s the marketing profession and advertising industry who have perpetuated this Wizard of Oz façade for so long, where packaged goods, tires or food are brought to life with animated mascots like Jolly Green Giants or Marshmallow Men or weird Peanut Englishmen trapped in time; where brands make promises but never keep them; where brands are supposed to capture the values, touchpoints, ideals and beliefs of the companies that keep them and yet those same companies are being taken over by private equity cutthroats, cost-cutting and jettisoning brands at alarming regularity; where new “brands” like AirBnB, Uber, Snapchat or Instagram burst onto the scene attracting massive market valuations (or did I mention used zero paid media to build their….brands)

WE created brands. WE kept them alive (and some on life support) by romancing and doubling down on the formulaic narrative. And now WE will need to figure out how to save them.

The fact remains, if brands are to survive, they’re going to need to remain relevant and provide real value to their entire ecosystem and their stakeholders. They’re going to need to evolve. And by definition, evolve implies the openness and ability to adapt to change. And that change will absolutely pivot around distribution, promotion, loyalty and advocacy, R&D, innovation, customer service and more.

Right now, I fear that many of these items are being ignored or neglected at worst, and paid lip service to at best. And if that continues, those same harbingers will be moving on from the death of brands to an even more ominous prediction, the death of corporations.

Oh wait, that’s already happening…

Super Bowl LI: Just because you can doesn’t mean you should

For some strange reason, Westport CT was very quiet last night (where last night = Super Bowl.) Instead of several parties or bars to choose from, it seems like everyone just stayed home to watch with their immediate family.

We did the same.

Made our boxes (I won $20 of my own money for having the second quarter score). Put out chips and dip. Settled in for what started as a blow up and ended with a melt down if you’re a Falcons fan or the greatest comeback in the history of NFL Football if you’re a Pats fan or conceding reluctantly if you’re a fan of any of the other franchises.

It also gave me a chance to watch pretty much all the commercials with the sound on (as opposed to the hullaballoo of partygoers)

As always I hoped to see the advertising industry show the rest of the world what we’re made of and in true form, we completely failed miserably and instead, capitulated that creativity is pretty much DOA.

From a media standpoint, if you bought 4th Quarter, give yourself a….’er…..pat on the back. You’re a hero unless of course people switched off in the 3rd quarter and went to bed. I almost did…

Politics and Pigskin don’t mix

A lot of political undertones on this one. From the Kraft-Belichick-Brady Presidential connection to the LGBTQ lyrics from Lady Gaga (who killed it) to Avocados from Mexico. (I’m kidding)

And a LOT of statement of Unity, Tolerance, Equality and the like from a bunch of advertisers like – if I recall correctly – Coke, Google, AirBnB and of course Anheuser-Busch. If there were others, sorry guys you blended in the sameness of togetherness.

The A-B commercial was very interesting because they claim it has absolutely nothing to do with the political climate and I totally believe them, which – in this case – is not a good thing. Ultimately, Budweiser is a mass brand that requires both “red” and “blue” to buy and according to all the advertising trades, this isn’t happening as much as they’d like. After all, they renamed the beer, America over the summer months! In this particular case, whilst I applaud them for running it, I wonder if it made sense to pull it….

Creepy Rules

There were a lot of creepy commercials. I’m quoting my son as well here. Ghosts, Talking Yearbooks, Sexual liaisons with cartoon mascots and I might as well slap T-Mobile on the wrist for a ridiculously inappropriate mismatch of the actress (I forget her name) from Flight of the Conchords and I guess, 50 Shades of Grey and the orgasm from When Harry met Sally.

Telco War

This was the war of the telcos. Perhaps only AT&T is the big winner because they didn’t participate. Unless of course they did and I didn’t even remember, in which case I withdraw my compliment.

T-Mobile had a real message: unlimited data? Wait, what??? Can you say the word, “throttle?” They purchased at least 3 commercials and the one with Justin Bieber would have been enough. It was a perfectly executed Super Bowl commercial: borrowed interest from a celebrity + frivolous humor + a singular, clear message + a call to action for those that give a damn.

Big winner of the night: Lady Gaga. No more words necessary. Her brand shone (and if you’re looking for a startup/innovation connection, hat tip to the drones powered by Intel)

Big loser of the night:  All the automotive brands or perhaps I should say blands with one notable exception: The Coen Brothers Easy Rider Mercedes spot with Peter Fonda (so to be clear, I like the Mercedes spot!)

Special mention: AirBnB’s social statement had pretty much minimal to non-existent branding. Rather than say, “make the logo bigger,” I saw this as them saying:

1. If you recognize our logo, this is probably for you. And if you don’t, it’s not.
2. We are big enough to buy a Super Bowl spot and not care about ROI.
3. This was a statement to our employees, partners, hosts and customers (rather than prospects)

Final word: Come on advertisers and your agencies, Super Bowl advertising isn’t an enigma. It’s pretty formulaic really. Next year make sure you do the following:

1. Release it early
2. Use Influencer Marketing (see my book Join the Conversation from 10 years ago if you don’t know what this is)
3. Use Social Media (see point 2) before, during and after
4. Use e-mail (especially the day afterwards to remind the pundits like myself that you exist and are relevant…even if you aren’t.) This morning I got an e-mail from “the founders of AirBnB,” titled: “Acceptance starts with all of us.”
5. As artistic and visually arresting as your masterpieces are, don’t forget fundamentals (I feel like a broken record) of logo insertion – both size and duration, audio and visual cures for those with sound on and off respectively, URL or whatever the kids visit nowadays, offer and call-to-action (where applicable for those ROI bean counters) unless you’re AirBnB of course! 

Update: Just 30% of Super Bowl ads displayed hashtags, a dip from 45% in 2016, Marketing Land reports. Forty-one percent of spots included links to websites, 8% mentioned Twitter, and 6% referenced Facebook and Instagram.

All in all I can’t complain….I won $100 for the O/T Pats win.

So there’s that. 

You CAN have it all!

My co-founder and COO of Evol8tion, Gina Waldhorn, just had a baby.

How selfish of her, right?

How on earth could she neglect her startup duties of growing this business in favor of starting a family?

Even worse is that she intends to take off until the end of the year? The Donald is rolling in his grave...and HE'S STILL ALIVE!

My message to her was simple: take the time you need...come back on your terms...you CAN have it all.

When it comes to diversity in the workplace and specifically the conversation about women in the workplace, anyone who tells you this isn't a problem (anymore) is deluded and/or detached. And if they are in a position of authority/power, this kind of attitude is a one-way ticket out of the organization (the larger the organization, the quicker the exit). Just ask Kevin Roberts.

Worse still, you'll get Cindy Gallop on your tail and you do NOT want to make her mad. You wouldn't like her when she's mad.

Don't get me wrong, I miss Gina (already) terribly and it hasn't been a full week. I'll get over it. I have to.

She doesn't need to be physically in this office to lead and maximize her contribution to the company. Not any more. Not in today's times with software solutions like Join.Me, Slack, Dropbox, Google Drive, Skype etc.

If you are a woman, you CAN be a full time mom AND a full time executive without sacrificing one for the other and without spending more time in the process. They are not (or should not be) mutually exclusive; nor are they zero-sum. Work-life balance is inextricably intertwined and interconnected.

Ultimately, quality time should trump quantity time 10 times out of 10, especially with the collateral damage is the opportunity cost of a shorter commute and/or less endless meetings, where the only outcome is to set up another meeting.

Of course, I hope Gina will get bored sooner rather than later. After all, she is a serial entrepreneur and this is her company. Of course, I hope she will ease her way back and pick and choose moments to keep her professionally engaged and stimulated. At the same time, I also need to walk my talk and put my own vision and passion into practice and as that relates to the new way to work...you CAN have it all and she CAN (and WILL) have it all.

Corporations will just need to accept (it's easier and less painful if this is done willingly) that the only way to attract and retain Millennials (I'm not giving away Gina's age) will be to feed their life force (emphasize the word, LIFE) and not micromanage, control and/or smother the ability to dream big, reach higher and maximize potential.

So take your time, Gina...but not too much time, ok?

The 100 Day Challenge: Are you Marketer enough?

How was your year?

Be honest.

Awesome?

You shattered your KPI records? You delivered more from less and more with less? You found inefficiencies and eliminated points of friction across your marketing communications and consumer journey? Your agency brought you bold, fresh, new and innovation ideas? Your procurement department saved you some money without hampering or hindering your creative process? You successfully experimented with several emerging platforms and exciting early stage startups? You attracted and retained talented young Millennials to move your brand forward?

You did? TERRIFIC! You rock! You don't need to continue reading, but I would love it if you would comment below and share your success stories, best practices or next practices and some key learnings with the rest of us constituents.

We need more people like you to step up and share. We need leaders who are gracious enough to help raise the collective bar or rising tide in order to evolve our industry.

For everyone else (and I have a sneaky feeling it's the overwhelming majority), I have some bad news and good news. They're actually both the same: everyone else is in the same boat. So you're not behind but you're not ahead either. That's either exceptionally frightening or empowering depending on how you look it. If the former, you run all the risk in the world to be disintermediated by a direct competitor or even a startup. If the latter, you have everything to gain by making the first move (first mover advantage is not a myth; it's very real)

The choice is ultimately yours.

And the real good news is that there is still time! Not much, but enough to make a difference.

So here's my challenge to you: you have roughly 100 days left in the calendar year. Do something. Do something you've never done before. Not because you can, but because you have to. Actually you can and you should. Maybe you have some of those yummy use-it-or-lose-it funds left over in your budgetary coffers. Maybe you don't, but let's be honest, you can find it if you really want to.

This isn't about money. And besides, it's not yours anyway; it belongs to your shareholders, so why not repay their loyalty with a proof of concept that demonstrates you are genuinely committed to changing with the times.

I can't believe I'm actually quoting #DJT, but "what the hell do you have to lose?" Seriously, what do you have to lose? At worst, you might make a few embedded stalwarts a little uncomfortable.

So take the 100 day challenge, commit to a "Test 'n Learn Combo" (it's #4 on the McDonalds value menu); invest in a pilot or "experiment"; make a commitment to doing something you've never done before (here's the kicker) in a category you unequivocally know (beyond a reasonable doubt) is already - or will soon become - a mission critical sector for your business.

By all means, go it alone should you so desire. Or task it to one of your roster incumbent agencies if you are convinced they'll execute it "better, cheaper, faster." Or why not give a shot to one of the subject matter expert boutiques out there? (Evol8tion is one of them, but I would be just as happy to refer you to another company if you want a shortlist to choose from)

We can always come up with 100 reasons to say no, but why not force yourself to come up with one real reason to say yes. How about ushering in the new year with a win; a data point in a set that will help you triangulate and get to the future...fast...and even first.

How can you say no to that? It's rhetorical.

Will Apple pay the price for innovating too slow?

September 7th is the BIG day!

For what you may ask?

The announcement of the new iPhone 7, dummy!

Oh, yawn!

I guess the real question is whether we care anymore. Or maybe we care too much and just have lost faith with Apple to wow us with the kind of form and function that changed our lives and even the world with the initial launch of the iPod and ultimately iPhone.

As I write this, it's just over 24 hours to go before the "big reveal" (air quotes = sarcasm) and current rumors are slightly better camera, bigger screen coverage to the entire surface, wireless charging, some degree of water resistance and no headphone jack at all (WTF?)

So apparently, the force touch of the 6s didn't exactly set the world on fire. Shocker! What about the other features? I guess the bigger screen coverage is pretty cool although I do like the tactile feel of being able to press a button and have it perform the functions of a button. I'm not sure about the disappearing headphone jack...I absolutely welcome a world of no wires (I probably spend 2-3 hours a day untangling my current headphones); I'm just unclear about the practicality of sticking a bud in my ear and what happens if it falls out...the white wires serve that "safety net" function in a very low-tech way.

I actually think our friends at Samsung have done an exponentially (arguably explosive) better job at out-innovating Apple when it comes to mobile phones. From screen coverage to screen curvature; from retina scans to the stylus option; from wireless charging to wider lenses for selfies.

...but perhaps the one feature that to me becomes the killer app is a phone that doesn't break when you drop it and doesn't fritz when you spill water on it. For me, my nails on a chalkboard moment is seeing self-respecting professionals walking around with a screen so cracked it looks like someone hurled a rock at a mirror (and is subsequently enjoying bad luck as a result).

That accolade belongs to the Droid and Android OS.

Also, before we give too much credit to Samsung, they just recalled 2.5 million (yes, 2.5 MILLION) Galaxy Note 7's, so one step forward, one step back.

I guess the lessons for innovation are as follows:

1. If necessity is the mother of invention, why isn't practicality the father of innovation? Instead of innovating around the wrong features, why not fix the most basic pain points like screens that constantly break
2. When you look at the entire competitive set, I don't think there's any doubt Samsung has innovating the MOST....but is most necessarily best? First mover advantage is not the same as fast mover advantage (and visa versa)
3. Perhaps the real innovation is the new business model and revenue stream associated with pricing leasing models. It's allowed the likes of AT&T to deal direct with its customers and bundle in added value services like insurance (no more Applecare)
4. To that end, small businesses (startups if you like) have mushroomed around the service and repair friction associated with smartphones. Replacing your cracked screen or impotent battery is now truly "better, cheaper, faster."
5. Back to Apple. I don't think Cook v Jobs is necessarily the key barometer when it comes to actual innovation; I DO think it is the ultimate litmus test when it comes to PERCEIVED innovation and our tolerance for mistakes, marginal improvements, deception (delaying the release of key functionality) and getting excited about "meh" features like the launch of Siri. That's what Jobs did so well. In Steve, we trusted. I guess the learning is that you need a strong leader to steady a ship, even if it's bearing for turbulent waters...
6. The iPod saved Apple in my opinion. And the iPhone built on this success. Apple opened the walled garden associated with the iPod OS to welcome in the Microsoft Windows nerds and benefited greatly from the halo. They essentially swapped the walled garden of a device for an entire ecosystem. Right now, features like Airplay make interoperability a dream, but what happens when someone emulates, imitates or makes it likewise just as easy or even easier. Can we see a day where Apple everywhere is replaced with Amazon everywhere? We would be foolish to say no.
7. Back to Jobs. His arrogance was endearing. In his void, any remnant of arrogance is just annoying. Isn't it time for Apple to start listening to its fanboys and girls? Ask us what we want.
8. Or maybe it's OK if Apple looks to the competitive crowd and honors the adage, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Not to belabor the point, but PA-LEASE can we make screens unbreakable...or at the very minimum, less fragile!
9. To be clear, the takeaway for Apple is clear. Pick up the pace, lads. The "S" in your 6-monthly mega-announcements stands for "Shit" (sorry, no less eloquent way to put it.) If you can't innovate quick enough, then change and ultimately manage our expectations. Stop with the whole Orwellian Production under more secrecy than a plot twist on The Walking Dead. Let go of the black turtleneck sweater and tortoise shell glasses and just issue a press release. Or don't and renew your wows (get it?)
10. Maybe we've just come to the end of the line when it comes to innovation around a smartphone. I mean how much bigger can it get? How much better should the camera be? I don't believe that and I don't think you do either. I was watching 60-minutes recently and saw a scientist talking about CERN, The Large Hadron Collider, the Higgs boson or so-called G-d particle and when asked about what might be possible in the future which could include travel to other dimensions, teleportation or other episodes of Star Trek, his response was terrific: You know, if you had asked somebody in 1900, “Do you think we could take a device out of our pocket and push a button or two and talk to your spouse halfway across the world?”

So no to point 10, but maybe or yes to the title of the article.

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