Getting back into the groove means finally getting to the UNM2PNM (Use New Media 2 Prove New Media) review of Joseph Jaffe??s Join The Conversation.
I had originally asked Joseph to go back and forth in an ??Ask Away? discussion, but since I??ve been travelling, I wanted to get this out first. If Joe is still willing, I??d be more than happy to have an open-ended discussion about this book and other stuff. Might make great fodder for a MP Daily Fix post.
So let??s jump in, Folded Corners style:
Page 23 + 24: The Power of One Human Versus The Impotence of A Faceless Corporation
After discussing Dell Hell and other examples of one human vs. corporation:
“Where does advertising figure in this story? Nowhere. It is less than visible. It is invisible. Forget necessary or unnecessary evil. It doesn??t even exist in a world where conversation prevails and marketing fails.
And make no mistake ?? the aforementioned brands spend millions upon millions of dollars to interrupt, disrupt, intervene, and intercede on the off chance that you??re in the mood to buy.”
Why a Folded Corner? Perfect Jaffe snark here. And he??s right. The damage created by one person for Dell was almost to much to overcome. This is a company willing to throw millions at ineffective advertising, but not a little time to address a big problem that snowballed into a bigger one. When they finally did, it did take quite some time to turn the tide. Now they??re reaping the rewards of conversation.
Page 52: The New Consumerism
About personal connections:
??Each string of communication is a conversation in the making and each conversation is a seed capable of sprouting a relationship.?
Why a Folded Corner? I??m a big believer in planting seeds online and the power that can grow out of it. And this line by Jaffe is a perfect summation of my thinking on this.
Page 78: Signs of Life
About the delicate balance between control and camaraderie:
??Your consumers are color-blind. They don??t know the difference between Pantone 155 and 156. Moreover, they don??t care!? But at the end of the day these are just irrelevant checks and balances designed to make you feel secure and help you justify your reason for being. Sorry about that.?
Why a Folded Corner? Because the decision you??re racking your brain over in your boardroom couldn??t mean less to your consumers unless you??re aiming to give them the best experience possible. And, oftentimes, their experience has nothing to do with the one you want them to have and everything to do with the one they want to create for themselves and their peers.
Page 94: Capability Lags Commitment
About monitoring:
??…57.3% of the sample either agreed or strongly agreed that monitoring conversations is important to overall success, but only 48.5% and 39.6% either agreed or strongly agreed that their organization had a good understanding of where conversations were taking place, as well as what was being said in these conversations.?
Why a Folded Corner? This is an important reminder of where things in the social media/conversation world start. LRI = Listen, Respond, Initiate is what I tell my clients ?? and it all starts with monitoring.
Which is a nice lead into the next Folded Corner…
Page 144: Listening to a Conversation
??Shut the hell up and say nothing. Listen. Carefully. You??ll be amazed by the richness, depth, meaning, intensity, and complete submission associated with ?conversations already in progress?.”
Why a Folded Corner? Again, start by listening and see what you can ADD to the conversation only after you digest what??s being said.
Page 190: Ignoring or Avoiding the Conversation
??I recently heard a very profound statement: The biggest risk is not from trying something but rather from spending $400 million or more on a campaign that nobody notices or remembers.?
Why a Folded Corner? Because it costs so little to JTC, it??s laughable that, for a fraction of the overall marketing budget, bigger companies don??t hire community managers (or whatever you want to call someone responsible for listening, responding and initiating conversations at your company) to fix these problems at the root. Why ignore and avoid when it??s so cheap + cost effective to join in?
???
So, these are (just some) of the corners I??ve folded. I??m interested in knowing which parts of this book spoke to you. Comments are open!
March 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hi Mark
I was interested in your perspectives about Jaffe’s book and Conversations. You are right listening and learning are key steps. Some good folded corner choices.
I was a little surprise at a couple of your assertion around Dell, especially since they could create fear from other corporations looking at entering the space. So wanted to set a couple things straight:
1. I am not sure that any company composed of well-minded, transparent, compassionate people working to listen, learn, connect with customers and constantly grow and improve should view any possible “damage created” by bloggers or anyone else as being “to[o] much to overcome.” You can always improve and get better.
2. While our whole marketing approach and mix is changing to suggest we threw “millions at ineffective advertising,” is not substantiated by any means. One might argue for a company to become global and over 60 billion dollars in 20+ short years obviously did a few things right. Likely, during that era, advertising was part of it, especially since for the first 20+ years you could only call us or buy online.
3. “Turning Tides” always take work and time but I dont think it was that long…a few months and we started to see changes…and we are making more every day. Its an ongoing process.
As for reaping the rewards of conversation, as you point out, we are really reaping the rewards of listening,learning, connecting and conversing with customers.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
All fair points, Richard.
The point I will defend, though, is that there’s a big difference between “almost too much to overcome” and “too much to overcome.”
Personally, I don’t think any problem is too much to overcome if you join the conversation in the right spirit, which clearly Dell has done.
Direct2Dell has had a huge impact in changing opinions in a short time period. Perhaps it didn’t come across well in this post, but I use Dell as an example of what to do right when with my clients.