Do what you say

Mitch Joel wrote a great blog post recently about why more brands don't market products that simply do what they are supposed to do.  I liked it because it said so many things that I have been thinking about recently and so I commented on it.


In fact, it was such a good post that I was even thinking about it last night as I was walking down to Ottawa Bluesfest but in a broader context: what if weren't talking about brands, what if we were talking about people.


If we were forced by some magical law of physics to do everything we said we'd do, how much better of a place would the world be?  If this magical law applied to everyone, then wouldn't that mean that every marketer would have to deliver on the promises they make on behalf of the brands they manage?


Personally, I think integrity is one of the most important qualities a person can have and I wonder why more people don't make this a priority for the brands they manage.  I suppose that some of the reasons why people don't are:

• They don't care because their job is only a paycheck anyways.
• The company is not configured to provide integrity.
• Even if they wanted to act with integrity.

This lead me to look up what integrity means and according to Wikipedia (which is a terrible source but I'll use it anyways) is


Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes.


Interesting.  The entry goes on to say that in western culture, it has come to mean the opposite of hypocrisy and many of the other secondary meanings we have given it but my point here is that I think it is hard for people to act with integrity because we live in a world that changes and because of that, we are constantly changing.  


I might agree to play in a tennis tournament today because I feel like playing tennis but as the weekend draws closer and I see that the weather is going to be really hot, I might change my mind.  I might be nice to my customers today because I'm in a good mood but tomorrow I will be tired and cranky.  I might think that I am marketing the greatest widget in the world but tomorrow I realize that it's no different than anything else out there.


In the end, I think that both people and the brands they manage need to understand that integrity is important.  Much like trust, it takes a long time to build and only a short time to destroy.  I have always said that you need to live your life in the way you want people to remember you when you're gone.  


The real question then becomes, what do want written on your gravestone?

What you can learn from Lisa Lavie...

Youtube is celebrating its 5 year anniversary this week.  I remember pretty clearly when I first saw Youtube back in early 2006.  Back then it was just a collection of silly videos people were doing for attention and while in some ways, not much has changed, it has been interesting to see it grow into the second most mentioned brand on Twitter and earning upwards of 2 billion views a day.

Perhaps later this week, I'll post some of my favorite clips but for now, I'd like to share what you can learn from Lisa Lavie, the Youtube singing sensation who's story is featured as part of Youtube's 5th.



1) Don't wait to start:  Lisa started her career with nothing but her cashier savings.  In today's world, there is no point waiting for somebody to tell you that you can do something.  Get out there and do it.

2) Connect:  Lisa takes the time to respond to everyone who posts comments.  It's not some automated robot like those people who have auto-replies answering follow messages in Twitter, it's actually Lisa that does that work.  People respond to people, not machines.

3) Give back:  What did Lisa do with her network of fans and peers?  She organized them to raise money for the earthquake victims in Haiti.  More and more the idea of giving back is starting to be the primary, if not secondary reason why people use social platforms like Youtube.  Use what you have to give back.

Web Analytics

I have been reading a few great marketing related books recently. One of them is called Web Analytics: An hour a day by Avinash Kaushik who also has an amazing blog that I am now reading through as well.

By chance, I attended a webinar last week given by Avinash at Elastic Path. That SAME day, our web developer came up from Bellevue to work in Vancouver for a few days and had a copy that he lent me. I dove right in.

So far, I am LOVING this book. I will provide a more complete review when I have finished it... which at this rate will not be long.

Perhaps the biggest concept so far and one which has always been top of mind for me is the idea that you have to use analytics to get at the WHY.... why people visit your site... why they buy stuff... why they don't.... and that web analytics is a great way to help formulate the questions you need to ask.

But the real gold for me was the realization that me and anyone else sitting around looking at our company's website is just that... people sitting around and guessing... to really deliver the insight that is going to seperate your site from the rest is the fact that you need to understand these things from the customer point of view.

If you think your company's site needs some work, or even you don't.... pick up this book and start applying it ASAP.