Are Global Brands Too Important To Be Hyperlinked ?

Leon Benjamin posted the following thought to Twitter - and hence to Facebook.

"You know you're a global brand when people don't bother hyperlinking to you on blog posts coz' everyone knows where to find you. Thoughts?"

I started to write a response - and then ran out of space.

So here goes ...

I think we should flip it - as to WHO links and who doesn't ...

When a new social network is small, nascient, getting going - the early users are likely early adopters - been around the block a few times with other apps, know the expected behaviours, the etiquette etc - this includes hyperlinking - even for famous big names - the hyperlinks are there.

As the Social Networks grow, the noobies appear. And - as a 'nooby', the inevitable question - who (in the case of Twitter) do I follow ? who (in the case of Facebook) should be my friend ? - and so on.

Two things then happen

1) As time marches on the new people that join start to lose the core understandings, rules and etiquette of the original early adopters - forget - don't know - aren't as knowledgeable/ schooled in the finer points etc

2) The higher up the brand / success tree a brand / user is ... the more likely the 'uninitiated' will be following - so a higher proportion of no hyper linking will be occurring.

Thus my suggestion would be to flip the research.

I contend that the less aware a user is of the etiquette - the more likely they are not to hyperlink - and the more likely to follow big names.

@stephenfry and britney (i am sorry - I don't know her '@' off the top of my head - are sitting there on twitter with hundreds of thousands of followers - out of however many millions of twitterers there are.

I am betting that a lot of those followers are 'noobies' - just think of some of mr frys's frustrations posted to twitter ...

@PTPayne What!!!!??? Have you read nothing I've posted in the last 24 hours???
8:56 PM Mar 14th from TweetDeck in reply to PTPayne

It's not instantaneous. You tweet ONCE ONLY, including the string #followmestephen After hours/days/weeks you'll see me added to your list
8:55 PM Mar 14th from TweetDeck

Sigh. So many of you just don't get hashtags and aren't using them. It's so simple. I'm afriad I can't follow anyone who doesn't do it right
8:30 PM Mar 14th from TweetDeck

.. and I can't find it now - but a cracker a few weeks ago when he blacked out his image - I paraphrase :
" really - it would only take you a scroll down the page to answer that question for yourself"

Bottom line - all of the above is fully laced with 100% opinion - and no absolute data - but to me it makes sense.

I'd welcome a debate.

Innovation - according to Guy

Just found this locked up in my blog softWare 'PENDING' .. thought I should actually post it! Bottom line - Mr. Kawasaki talking about innovation.

In his words:

"Don't be afraid to polarize people." For radio, he said, an attempt to please everyone will only "create mediocrity."

The full monty ...

SAN JOSE -- February 9, 2009: Guy Kawasaki -- an original Mac "evangelist" in the '80s and now Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures -- opened Radio Ink's Convergence '09 with a keynote that focused on innovation: what it is and how to get it. He said, "True innovation occurs not when it's motivated by the desire to make money, but the desire to make meaning -- that is, to make the world a better place."
Kawasaki said most of the entrepreneurs who come to him and say their primary motivation is to make money end up with failing companies because they attract employees with the wrong motivation. He asked attendees, "How do you take the radio business and make people's lives better? That is the true foundation of innovation."

Kawasaki noted that most businesses define themselves by what they make today rather than sufficiently broadly, and urged attendees to jump past radio's current "curve of local transmitters broadcasting 30s and 60s for local advertisers.:
He recommended that companies seek a two- or three-word "mantra" instead of a mission statement and said innovators should be guided by the idea of "Don't worry, be crappy" -- that is, understand that a valuable innovation will be so much better than what came before that it won't matter if it's not perfect out of the box. But then, he said, the innovator must be willing to open his or her mind to ideas for improvements -- which can be the most difficult step.
Kawasaki also said to radio specifically, "Don't be afraid to polarize people." For radio, he said, an attempt to please everyone will only "create mediocrity."

... with thanks to : Radio Ink Magazine, for the source.

Human Capital Management

This extracted from a recent Economist article ....

During the relatively modest downturn at the start of this decade, many professional-services firms cut too deeply, especially in their lower ranks, and found they were poorly positioned when strong growth resumed sooner than expected, says Heidi Gardner of Harvard Business School. Firms built on pyramid structures in which senior managers mentored larger numbers of employees below them suddenly found that, in a growing economy, they lacked the mentors needed to manage the army of new recruits. Instead, they had to re-hire ex-staffers at higher salaries and, in some cases, abandon proven policies of hiring senior managers only from within, says Ms Gardner, who worked for McKinsey at the time.

This crisis is revealing how few firms have really thought through their talent strategies, says Mark Spelman of Accenture. Claims that 'our workers are our most valuable assets' are too often platitudes, the emptiness of which is now being revealed. But those firms that have thought seriously about their talent needs have the opportunity to get ahead of those that haven't, says Mr Spelman, not just by shedding poor performers but also hiring scarce talent from outside, in what is now a buyer's market. Other tips from Mr Spelman include avoiding voluntary redundancy programmes, which encourage the most employable people to quit, and not firing the newest recruits on a crude first in, first out basis, as this cuts off the supply of future talent. Instead, firms should identify which workers they need to keep, and do what they must to retain them.

Haven't found the article in full other than here ....



The solution : Expert Alumni

Welcome to 2009

... and a Happy New Year to You ... just click on the link to access the new year microsite.

Where Have All the Prospects Gone?

An interesting article on the 'problem formally known as "the pipeline has dried up"' ... Jill Konrath on Sandhill.

First - a short list of why do they go away - but a much longer and more interesting list on what to do about it.

Opinion : Where Have All the Prospects Gone?

Passed on - with thanks to : SandHill.com

What Cloud Computing Really Means

"Cloud computing is all the rage. "It's become the phrase du jour," says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition."

"Cloud computing is at an early stage, with a motley crew of providers large and small delivering a slew of cloud-based services, from full-blown applications to storage services to spam filtering. Yes, utility-style infrastructure providers are part of the mix, but so are SaaS (software as a service) providers such as Salesforce.com. Today, for the most part, IT must plug into cloud-based services individually, but cloud computing aggregators and integrators are already emerging."

Read more at What Cloud Computing Really Means to understand the full picture.

passed on - with thanks to : The New York Times

Command and Control Enterprise ... I'd like you to meet UGC.

Trawling the net over the weekend - and thinking about one of my pet hobby horses - the seemingly contradictory idea of empowering the enterprise with these wacky and way-out concepts of blogs and wikis and 'UGC' and IM and You Tube and Facebook and and and ...

Except I don't think it is contradictory - it is what will happen - and in some lucky enterprises - IS happening.

A couple of posts caught my eye ....

ZDNet reporting on John Chambers from Cisco talking about the importance of collaboration to 'all things Enterprise.'

In fact the article even opens with

“The future is all about the power of “we” and how to collaborate with Web 2.0,” said Cisco CEO John Chambers,

Pretty straight forward huh ? However - read on and you will see that he highlights the essence of the challenge ....

"However, breaking down those hierarchies won't happen overnight. Organizations managed by command and control aren't about to give the keys to the kingdom to the IM, Facebook generation."

So here's the thing. One of the companies I am working with is Expert Alumni. Check them out.

In their words ...

"As half of the current workforce is planning retirement over the next 10 years, an experience gap is being created. This is not a short fall but according to industry observers, consultants, strategists and business leaders alike, it is a gap of unprecedented proportions.

In the past 40 years, corporations have enjoyed a balanced workforce at every level, with succession occurring fairly naturally.  People have been moving through the system and as individuals leave or retire, their replacements have not only brought the same level of experience, but have added value. This is no longer happening.

We now understand that the experience gap is too big to fill naturally and that the ad-hoc succession planning of the past is not enough. This situation is worsening as Baby Boomers retire."

The point is that those 'old' guys at the top - and in the middle - and at the bottom are retiring. They are retiring at a rate that is unprecedented. The skills gap is extraordinary. Talk to the Energy industry about the shortage of people they have. Or wonder who will keep - all the old computers going when the people that know how they work have retired - and the new guys are only learning about mash-ups and XML and ROR ... you get the point.

You see - I think that the "Organizations managed by command and control (who) aren't about to give the keys to the kingdom to the IM, Facebook generation" ... need to understand that if they don't those Gen Ys will simply go somewhere else that they are understood - or even start it up from scratch - they sure aren't going to spend their time sitting in the cubicles that their 'forefathers' sat in ....

Which brings me to the point - why wouldn't a C and C organisation try out a little bit of self organising collaboration. What do they have to lose?

Everything I would suggest - if they don't.

So - Mossberg says "If you're old, average, and fearful, stick with Microsoft's Windows until this summer"

Mac Daily News

... so here's the question : If you're young, brilliant and rebellious - are the instructions any different ?

Entrepreneurial Companies and the Patent System

Entrepreneurial Companies and the Patent System
(Via ... Feld's Thought's.)

Software Marketing in a Recession

Vendors don’t have to slash budgets but they do need to reposition investments to emerge from a downturn unscathed.

By Glenn Gow, Crimson Consulting Group

Are we in a recession? Maybe, maybe not. Many of you have worked through the most recent recession of 2001 – 2003. For most of us, and particularly those of us involved in software marketing, “bad” doesn’t quite describe how bad it was. Anything purchased by, or influenced by IT was hit hard.

This time will be different. Software won’t get hit as hard – but it will suffer along with the rest of the economy. Vendors that shape their marketing strategy for the downturn will emerge stronger when economic growth returns.

During the current slowdown, it is likely that business software will be less impacted than other sectors. IT spending will likely grow slowly; it will probably not decline. Consumer markets are likely to be harder hit than business-business (B2B) markets.

Many enterprise software solutions are accurately positioned as improving efficiency and productivity. Hardware providers have a harder time defending that argument (can you say, “virtualization?”) Another saving grace is that for most of us, the U.S. market represents a smaller percentage of overall revenues and profits than in the last recession.

Smarter Marketing During a Downturn
Let’s assume that at least the U.S. economy will be in a recession and that as software marketers, we need to work within that reality.

Historically, software companies cut marketing first and deepest. However, for most companies, this is a mistake. To quote one of my Harvard professors, John Quelch, “It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.” It’s my contention that this applies to marketing investments as a whole, not just advertising.

Here are some tips for how software companies should alter their marketing strategies, just in case a recession is reality.

1. Spend smarter
You may spend less on marketing. Not because marketing should be cut first or most (it most certainly should not), but rather because your company may cut budgets across the board. In fact, by showing how you intend to spend smarter you will make it easier to fight for your resources (see no. 6 below).

By “spend smarter”, I mean create a clear-cut justification for the investment. While you won’t always be able to measure the ROI (this is marketing after all), you can have your people create a compelling business case for each investment. Then, when it comes time to justify the investment, you will have established sound business reasoning behind it. And that’s what the CEO and CFO need to see in a recession.

For example, consider the costs of certain tradeshows and contrast those with investing in blogs, podcasts, webinars, wikis, blogtracking, and online communities. Consider what you spend on print and non-web media advertising and examine web advertising even more closely. Chances are, now may be the time and the opportunity to do something you always wanted to do anyway.

2. Double-down on your current customers
Sure it’s more fun to get new customers, but it’s more practical in a downturn to provide better value (and get more in return) from your current customers. When customers make decisions in a downturn, they’re more likely to go with a trusted source. If they’re more likely to go with you, then you want to make it even more easy and obvious for them to go with you. Market to them. Enable your sales teams to be more effective with them. Ask current customers what they need from you. Care for them and they will be even more likely to stick with you if the going gets tough.

For example, is your license renewal team thinking about how to strengthen the relationships you have with your current customers, or are they just focused on selling maintenance and support? How can you reengineer their goals to contribute to this objective? Imagine if they became facile at consultative selling, or at the very least identifying where else in the organization your company could add value.

More importantly, now is the time for strategic account planning, and driving activities via a coordinated effort into your major accounts. Do your teams really understand the key business initiatives being driven within those accounts and how to create a value proposition that addresses their key business initiatives?

3. Outsmart your competitors
You have an opportunity to win market share from your competitors in a downturn. If you pay close attention to what’s happening in your target markets and how customers are reacting to a recession, you can act early and often with changes in product (if you can change it quickly), price, and positioning (especially as perceived needs change).

For example, in the last technology downturn, software companies became very creative in their pricing schema, creating many variations of software-as-a-service (SaaS) that enabled them to sell when their competitors were stuck in an old paradigm.

Positioning is often the easiest to change. If you coordinate gathering input from your strategic account selling teams, you’ll have invaluable information about what your key customers are looking for. You can modify your messaging to address the patterns that emerge from these discussions, before your competitors know what hit them.

4. Invest in Growing Market Segments
In every downturn there are market segments that grow faster than others. It’s your job as a marketer to help your company see and understand these market segments, and determine if you can quickly win business in these fast-growing market segments. These may be segments you’re already selling to, but not particularly focused on, or they may represent new segments – and new opportunities for your company. At the same time, you want to reduce your investments in the segments that will get hit the most in the downturn.

For example, in this potential recession, we see a slowdown in consumer spending, primarily in the U.S. How many of your market segments are dependent on consumer spending? How many are more dependent on B2B transactions? How much of your marketing effort is focused outside the U.S? Do you know which markets outside the U.S. are likely to grow the fastest?

Now is the time to know what is happening in each segment upon which you focus so you can make marketing investment decisions with “all the lights on”.

5. Support your channel
The average reseller has fewer than 10 employees. They will be hit more significantly in a downturn than virtually all software companies. They could be running scared.

These partners will turn to the vendor that supports them in a downturn. Extend financing to them. Provide more generous offerings in training, more sales attention and better technical support. Give them high quality leads. This is what they want the most and this is what they’re the worst at doing for themselves.

Finally, consider dropping those channel partners that you always knew weren’t going to work out anyway and recruit better partners.

6. Fight for Your Resources
As I’ve argued before (see ”CMOs as True Leaders”) it’s marketing’s responsibility to drive strategic issues. In a recession, this becomes even more important. When the CMO is not deeply involved in strategy, marketing is likely suffer from a knee jerk reaction to the challenge of cost savings.

This often means a disproportionate cut to marketing budgets and marketing headcount with disastrous results. First, marketing winds up playing a less important role, strategically. Second, a pendulum-swing of dollars and people begins, which makes it very hard to recover once the economy does. Third, the company ends up short-handed, completely reactive, and outsmarted by competitors and wishing it hadn’t made the cuts it had. It’s marketing’s responsibility to fight for its resources, and doing the five items above will help you win that battle.

Thoughts From The Web ... Number 2

From Nick Coutts : Digital Technologies and Behaviour ...

Digital technologies will affect the way our brains are wired.

Question : How will this affect behaviour?

Thoughts From The Web ... Number 1

Definition Of Art

Question : Where 'content' meets 'form' ?