Politics and Blogging
My husband is very interested in politics so one ear in our liberal house is always tuned to a political discussion. Personally, I have less than zero tolerance for the “right” viewpoint. It seems that the “right” is winged out a bit and lacks leadership. Years ago, as an undergrad, I started as a political science major but switched to art history and now study Business Administration. Not exactly full circle but definitely non linear.
Recently, I ran across an interesting scholarly article that connects politics and blogging. This study applies Word Wide Web network theory to an examination of the community structure of the 2004 U.S. Democratic Presidential candidates John Kerry’s blog. The study used data mining to reveal strong similarities between candidate’s blog networks and Word Wide Web networks. Burstiness is comment activity during real-world campaigns. Blog networks are interpersonal communication devices.
For me, the main takeaways of this interesting article:
- There was little use of blogs before 2004 to engage citizens
- 2004 campaign introduced strong use of social software and was inspired by the unsuccessful primary campaign of Howard Dean
- Barak Obama used his senate blog and podcasts and campaigned successfully leveraging technology
- Blogs sidestep the mainstream media
- Network theory has its foundation in math graph theory and overlays the scalable theory of internet communication
- The world wide web is a scale free network which gains distinction from random networks
- Network theory is useful when applied to real word social networks, information networks, tech networks, and bio networks
- Patterns of linking structure exhibits a power law distribution which results in a smaller number of web pages having a great majority of inbound links
- Information is rapidly diffused via scale free networks
- Weak ties serve as bridges between diverse networks and network values scale exponentially
- The internet and blogs reengage citizens
- Cyberbalkanization (really cool word…but nothing in Wikipedia) is group polarization and the movement to more extra positions.
- Additional Reading
- Burstiness predicts states of network development
- A few blog users are responsible for a great percentage of comments
- Analysis of the Kerry Blog data included retrieving and storing data after the campaign blog went down and looking through code for time stamping, names, comments, etc.
- SQL uses robust macro analysis – this technique was employed to retrieve the data
- Power law applies the notion of early entrance and continuity
- Surface level burstiness maps to real world events – this a very significant finding
Run a search for author Sharon Meraz at http://www.allacademic.com
Meraz, Sharon. “Using Blogs to Extend the Public Sphere? Data Mining the John Kerry Candidate Blog for Networked Community Structure Dynamics” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dresden International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany, 2009-02-05
MIT website | blogging about blogging | the power of metrics
Blogging began as a form of public/individual reflection. Savvy marketers realized blogging provided a new channel to communicate persuasively so the nature/purpose of this communication channel changed rapidly.
According to Wikipedia they are many different types of blogs:
- Corporate Blogs – enhance corporate communication. [ Google's Blog ]
- Genre Blogs – blogs which focus on a particular subject
[ Suing Google over Adsense ]
[ Oberman wants Scarborough fired] - Personal Blogs – ongoing diary or commentary
- Question Blogs – can use RSS syndication to convey answers
- Media Type Blogs -inserting media like photos, videos, etc.
- Device Type Blogs -defined by the device used to compose it…on my blackberry….maybe a microblog would be easier
What category/categories apply to BoingBoing, the world’s most popular blog?
What does blogging have to do with MIT’s website?
MIT Media Labs – launched the blogdex project to determine the social property of blogs. Visit MIT’s website. This site gets almost 2,000,000 unique visitors per month. The web team is really doing their job. MIT changes the home page daily. Is this is a case of breaking the rules once the rules are known?
This is what the site says about itself: The MIT web sites host more than 1,118,000 documents and receive more than 7,000,000 hits per day from all over the world. The image and background colors on the MIT home page change daily to call attention to each new spotlight. The MIT logo shown above is the graphical key to the background designs on the second-level pages. These pages use an enlarged and cropped logo as a background to bring together the categories of life at MIT. The MIT site is sponsored by Information Services & Technology (IS&T) and Public Relations Services (PRS).
Getting back to metrics. You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Objective measurements are more valuable than subjective ones. Compete is a great analytical resource. I am taking some MBA courses at Southern Connecticut State University. Compete tells me that the design and content of the MIT site is more compelling than the design of the SCSU website. How? Simple! Compete proves it…metrically. This is information I could effectively use to influence policy within an organization.
More things for me to consider for the next few posts.
- Why Tags are important for advertising and promotion on the internet.
- Blogs are ranked by Technorati based on the number of incoming links….links are the roads of the internet.
- Mainstream journalists write blogs.
- There are Legal Liabilites and unforseen consequences of blogs.
- Blogs are harder to control than traditional media….leverage the lack of control.
- I learned something new today – MIT’s unique unit of measurement is the Smoot.
Buyology | Motor Neurons | Marketing | Brands
Several weeks ago, a text AD AGE news alert arrived in my inbox:
VIDEO: Brain Scanning Religious Minds for Branding Secrets Buyology’s Researchers Target Christianity NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — In an admittedly controversial undertaking, Martin Lindstrom’s consumer brain-scanning project has probed the “branding” secrets of Christianity.
The findings Martin Lindstrom revealed were a major part of his recent Buyology Symposium in New York. Lindstrom presented data correlations between 12 cult-like brands, including Harley Davidson and Ferrari, and the emotional drivers of the world’s largest religion.
http://adage.com/video/article?article_id=135806
Who would not click on the link above? The email subject was provocative. I would be curious what other marketers think about Martin Lindstrom’s theory that probes the “branding” secrets of Christianity and draws a parallel between those techniques and other successful branding strategies.
After the ADAGE alert, I decided to read more about Lindstrom’s theory. Persuasive communication has always been around us. All effective communication is about encoding & sending messages, and receiving and decoding messages. The creative construction of a message contributes to the overall effect.
I did a Google search for “Buyology” and Martin’s book on the topic, a New York Time’s Bestseller, pulled up high in organic search. I bought the book. Philip Kotler, a well-known and respected marketing management educator and author, has a positive quote on the home page of Martin Lindstrom’s website.
Really interesting reading. The key takeaways for me are:
- our brains constantly collect, filter, and store information
- neuromarketing is the fusion of marketing and science. This element completes a Venn diagram structure by joining the qualitative and quantitative aspects of traditional marketing
- fMRI measures the magnetic components of hemoglobin, the oxygen transport mechanism in red blood cells – brain activity
- SST – steady state typography which tracks bran waves in real time
- our brains typically encode things of value in terms of emotions not cognition
- advertising that is artfully integrated into programming becomes part of the storyline and is more effective
- mirror neurons fire when an action is performs and also when the same action is observed
- subliminal messaging is sub-conscious, intrusive, not obvious, and cognitively non-defensive
- somatic markers, powerful buying tools, are cognitive shortcuts – bookmarks in our brain
- sensory stimulation is very powerful…we are talking about scent/fragrance
- marketing is a twentieth century invention – what do we have for the twenty-first?
- brain sectors – nucleus accumbens and anterior cingulate showing pleasure and conflict respectively
- brains have specialized physical regions associated with cognitve functions
- rituals and branding have commonalities via emotional connections
The following ten elements are emotionally driven commonalities:
- sense of belonging
- clear vision
- power over enemies
- sensory appeal
- story telling
- grandeur
- evangelism
- symbols ( my favorite topic – Carl Jung – Man and His Symbols – a designer’s philosophical bible)
- mystery
- rituals
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral
Time Magazine recently named Martin as one of the world’s 100 most influential people. He gets my vote! What does this have to do with a Toad? Carl Jung would know the answer. So would Martin Lindstrom…
Competitive Analysis – an invaluable strategic document
A thorough study of competitors is an essential foundation to implement an effective marketing strategy. In our mature capital economy, every market typically is fragmented and therefore extremely competitive. Close competitors seek to satisfy the same customers. Latent competitors may introduce new ways to satisfy potential customers. It is shortsighted to focus on consumers alone although customers must be the primary focus of a holistic marketing strategy. Considering the industry and the market provides a more comprehensive and valuable perspective. Understanding the dynamics of a parent company, if relevant, is important when gathering informaion for a competitive analysis.
Preparing a thorough competitive analysis is a daunting task. I have developed a TEMPLATE to serve as a starting point when gathering data for this strategic document. The final execution will probably be more granular.
You are welcome to download the TEMPLATE from my website: www.marketingholistics.com. It generally takes a fair amount of time to produce an effective competitive analysis which can then serve as a strategic document for a marketing plan.
Photographing Orchids at The New York Botanical Garden | Holistic Marketing
The one event I look forward to the most every year is the Orchid Show at The New York Botanical Garden. On Sunday, I spent several hours in the Enid Haupt Conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. I just spent most of the next snowy day, Monday, March 2, in front of the computer and I ‘m reasonably satisfied with the results. I pumped up the blacks in Lightroom and cropped aggressively. I prefer macro work which focuses on the center of you guessed it….orchids. A visit to the NYBG Orchid Show is infinitely more satisfying than taking photos in my studio. I absolutely love the interface for the show…the brilliant orchids against that vibrant green say so much about the concept of the show.
Let’s step aside a moment to consider Holistic Marketing where everything matters and explore the connection to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden.
Just so we’re in sync – the four components of holistic marketing are:
1. Relationship marketing - builds mutually satisfying long-term relationships. .
2. Integrated marketing - satisfies needs and surpass expectations.
3. Internal marketing - all teams work together and think customer.
4. Performance marketing - is financially accountable and social responsible.
Back to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden. Consider me a target customer. I give the NYBG a 100% rating. This is a snapshot of our day:
- Visit the NYBG website at home in CT, order and print tickets.
- Find it easy top park in their Lot and there is plenty of extra parking across the street.
- Stop by the Gift Shop to select a birthday present for a baby girl named Amelia and a toy for our young neighbor, Jake.
- Glance through a few of the hundreds of unique botanical books and the “official Orchid Show book” is…was that a mistake $4.99…not $17.99.
- We spent a few more minutes enjoying the Gift Shop and decide to become members. We saved 20% of our purchase in addition to refunding the price of the tickets to our purchase.
- Jim, the Director of the Shop, was genuinely cheerful and engaging. He helped me to select a pair of earrings that were real orchids coated in resin. We haven’t even gone into the show yet and already the day is perfect.
- People at the show were happy and considerate when they notice others aiming cameras. The security guards were really nice when they reminded a few visitors not to use tripods and monopods. They offered to snap shots of visitors and seemed happy to be there.
- Keep in mind that everyone at the NYBG, visitors and staff are surrounded by unsurpassed beauty.
The folks at the NYBG totally get holistic marketing. Everything matters, particularly delivering the promise of the unique value proposition. I have a long history with the NYBG. My father took me there on Saturday mornings when I was a child. I graduated from Fordham University directly across the street. I studied professional floristry there in the 1980’s. Now, almost 30 years later, The New York Times has a rave review.
The entire experience is extremely pleasant. I am inserting a few of my favorite pics into this blog.
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- Phalaenopsis Orchids
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- Darwin Orchid
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- Cattleya Orchid
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- Miltonia Orchid
Please feel free to visit my photo gallery from the NYBG Orchid show.
Why photograph Butterflies & use compact flash cards?
On Sunday I spent several hours taking photographs in the Butterfly Garden at the Museum of Science in Boston, MA. I love Photoshop but always aim to take the perfect picture that will need no edits or perhaps a simple level or curves adjustment and a crop and sharpen. I’ve written Photoshop actions to automatically add adjustment layers when I open up the raw/NEF files. CS4 has a nifty new ADJUSTMENTS PANEL that eliminates the need to take those extra steps for non-destructive edits. Lightroom 2 has superb Web Gallery functionality built right in and additional toning functionality more reminiscent of a “traditional darkroom” set up…not a toolbox. Again, the edits are non-destructive!
My Butterfly Garden is the first time I put up an entire web photo gallery via Lightroom without making a single edit first in Photoshop…not one. Please keep in mind that I tend to crop aggressively and prefer macro work so most of my final photos typically have an even closer viewpoint. Nevertheless, my experiment generated pleasing results. I certainly could have done some additional editing on some of the hilights and shadows in Photoshop but resisted the impulse on principle . Scott Kelby and Chris Orwig are famous Photoshop/Lightroom gurus (my favorite gurus) and they are right on target with their recommendations about incorporating Lightroom into your photography workflow.
Back to the MOS Butterfly Garden: the room is narrow, humid, and warm between 77 and 87 degrees. An entire wall of large glass panes overlooks the chilly Boston Harbor. Butterflies are everywhere. One landed on my hair. I felt the tickle of tiny steps across my head. Some of the butterflies are very active and others barely move. The varieties and colors are amazing. Visitors are simply overjoyed. I see different beautiful creatures every visit. The aroma of very ripe fruit blends with the fragrance of flowering plants. The moist air intensifies this intoxicating combination of scents. This experience is extremely pleasant. I am inserting a few of my favorite pics into this blog. Also feel free to visit my complete Butterfly Garden Web Gallery.
Back to the MOS Butterfly Garden: I left by the exit a few times just to cool off a bit. Immediately upon exiting, the corridor room seems very cool by comparison. The computer exhibit is next door to the Butterfly Garden. Not ultra nerdy…but the energy in the room is very different. You can trace the path of a keystroke input, thru BIOS to ASCI and screen output. An early Gigabyte mini drive, about one third the size of a business card is placed in front of an “earlier” hard drive larger than one of the glass panels in the Butterfly Garden next door. Both drives have their inner workings exposed and look quite similar except in dimension. Compact flash cards have non-magnetic drives which are more rugged and durable and write data quickly for digital photography. This is not quite sensory overload.
Recently, we joined the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven, CT. The Peabody has a reciprocal agreement with the Museum of Science. Talk about ROI.
Creating Customer Value | the Holistic Marketing Framework
Crafting a unique value proposition for target markets provides strategic direction for implementation of the marketing plan. Consider the strategic and tactical components of an effective marketing plan: exploring, creating and delivering value must be considered and properly maintained and managed.
Effectively identifying and leveraging a core competency can provide a tremendous competitive advantage. Brand value is increased when customers cannot obtain the same benefits from a competitor. Your product/service offering must be distinct, excellent and profitable. A vigilant organization will constantly monitor the entire environment. Noticing and acting on weak signals will enhance your competitive advantage. Learn from the past, evaluate the present and envision the future. Is it important to consistently measure brand image and customer satisfaction while gathering and evaluating ideas for new products, and improved services.
Delighting customers is important. This statement may sound a bit corny but it still rings true. Consider a few examples of great holistic marketing:
- Recently my husband and I tried a new Spanish Restaurant in Norwalk, CT. Everything was delicious. We skipped dessert but the waiter brought a complimentary mini desert plate. We will go back for Valentine’s Day.
- Olay Regenerist, a skin care regimen, claims to get noticeable results at a fraction of the price of luxury brands. Olay introduce new products and include samples for other products. I noticed a difference and saved money at the same time and have a chance to try new products.
- I visited a customer to take a series of Pro Pet Photos. Her young daughter was interested in the process and started to ham it up for the camera. I took some extra photos, made a web gallery and brought her mom a set of complimentary custom note cards. Her expression of pride was very gratifying. The daughter sent me an email with about 25 exclamation points after the phrase…”I love my pictures…”
- The nice lady at the Starbucks inside the Yale Bookstore always looks very happy to hand over your beverage.
- L.L. Bean gladly accepted a return on fleece activewear-no questions asked.
- B & H Photo Video tech guys are experts in their field…and they do not oversell.
For every example of excellence, we can also provide many examples of poor products, uncaring/unfriendly service, hassles with returns, misleading/ over zealous/too frequent email campaigns, etc. We want to forget and avoid these unfortunate experiences!
I consider Google a company that is excellent on many levels and the essence of an exemplary holisitc marketer. Just “google” Google’s mission statment. Then “yahoo” Google’s mission statement. Then “google” Yahoo’s mission statement. Then “yahoo” Yahoo’s mission statement. The results speak for themselves. A mission statement must be clear and memorable, almost but not quite unattainable. We’ll explore mission statements within the context of holistic marketing next time.
What’s up with Semantic Web | Google connections
Several years ago I coordinated internet marketing for a communications company in Stratford, CT. Although, the “Semantic Web” was a hot topic in marketing circles at that time, I was unable to engage my corporate colleagues on that topic. IT consultants did not seem particularly interested and actually poked a bit of fun in an attempt to quash my excitement.
Follow developments of CSS 3 at W3C. Enthusiasts in these circles embrace “semantic concepts.” I tend to look at things from multiple perspectives. External CSS style sheets are a must technique for web implementation today. A few days ago, while driving and listening to my favorite Radio station, NPR, I heard a very interesting discussion about The General Semantics Institute. A Fordham (my alma mater…we’re talking 1971) Professor was actively involved in the conversation which centered around communication theories and definitions.
Switching gears. By now you must realize that I love everything GOOGLE and see connections absolutely everywhere. Experts theorize that Google uses LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) in page rank algorithms and suggest therefore to design websites with LSI in mind. Check out Breakfast in Hyperspace for a simple visual of the 3d vector model for LSI. Promotion World also has a great article on LSI.
You could say that I think illogically or expansively. For my money….Google connects us in so many ways. My MBA, SCSU friend Bogdan suggests the Just Google It video. 146,310 views and still counting beats.
HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Google gets holistic marketing | everything matters when users matter
Perhaps Google’s has created a new paradigm for holistic marketing. Google’s positioning process is brilliant and seemingly effortless. I recently presented an analysis of the paradox of Google’s Marketing Strategy to a group of MBA students at Southern CT State University In New Haven, Connecticut. Market penetration of this target market was over 97% with 100% approval within the 97%.
Google, an entrepreneurial giant reinvests a relatively small percentage (less than 10% of the billions of $$$ generated from AdWords and AdSense ) into organizational sales and marketing. Even Yahoo uses Google AdWords as part of their promotional strategy. Why is this significant? Google products/services obviously work. Google has created an excellent image or identity for its products, brand, and organization.
Positioning is a mental process, which results from a market strategy – the examination of Google’s unique value proposition will illuminate the value customers derive from the use of Google products and service. Google positions Google as “the closest thing to an ultimate answer machine.” Consider the current mission statement at www.Google.com/corporate.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page submitted a more modest unique value proposition in their original scholarly paper, The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine. This early, original paper presents the prototype, features, process, anatomy and conclusions upon which the organization was built. Profit was not an original objective.
Google definitely “flew by the seat of their pants” at the beginning of their organization’s exponential growth. Because positioning is the aggregate market perception of a particular company, product or service in relation to their perceptions of the competitors in the same category, the process for Google occurs regardless of a marketing strategy. However, through enlightened strategic actions, Google has proactively influenced their target market’s perception of the value of the Google brand. Initially, though, Google’s positioning process evolved as result of their innovative market penetration not as a result of a strategic initiative.
Google is funded by the needs of mature capital economy to market, position and differentiate similar products and services. Google’s pro active market dominance is supported by an effective, efficient, and economical “non-traditional” marketing strategy which has strong holistic roots. “Everything matters when users matter!”
Product Positioning Map | Strategic Planning | Jump start 2009
Feedback from your target audience is a crucial element when planning and implementing a holistic marketing strategy for your company. I prefer to provide a visually compelling/customized form when gathering information for clients. This exercise is simple to conduct and will provide actionable insights. You can download the generic form below from www.marketingholistics.com. It’s also a snap for me to provide a custom designed positioning template (PDF format). You can specify two value variables and four product variables.
In fact, I’ll design your custom template at no charge between now and December 31, 2008.
Visit the Marketing Holistics website to download the generic PDF or shoot me a fast e-mail and I’ll customize it for your use.
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