Paul Wallbank – Brilliant Communications

Category: marketing

  • The importance of transparency

    The importance of transparency

    The US Federal Reserve has announced they will release more details from the information they use on determining official interest rates. On the same day the social networking site Twitter is embarrassed when its opaque verified account policy fails.

    Being open and honest is the key component in trust and in turn trust is the bedrock of society. If you can’t trust your neighbour, the local cop or the grocer at the shops then society quickly starts breaking down.

    Many big businesses, particularly those in markets where they are one of a small group of incumbents get away with abusing your trust; they tell an illegal surcharge can’t be waived because “that’s their policy, you can’t change an account because of the “terms and conditions” and that the call centre’s operators name is Janet even though it’s Rajiv and you know that when you call back asking for “Janet” you’ll be told”there’s 35 Janets working in the department right now”.

    All of this we’ve come to expect from big bureaucratic organisations like the phone company, the bank and the tax office. The interesting thing is how many new businesses that are adopting this anti-customer model of operating.

    Rules and policies are fine – as long as everyone knows them, they aren’t too onerous and they are applied fairly and consistently.

    The challenge for all businesses – particularly those taking on incumbents – is they have to show they are more trustworthy than the existing operators. If you can’t show that, then maybe it’s time to think about how you operate.

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  • What’s a Twitterer worth?

    What’s a Twitterer worth?

    $2.50 per month is what Phone Dog think a Twitter follower is worth in their lawsuit against a former employee.

    As nebulous and ambiguous as Phone Dog’s claim seems to be it appears some price is being created on the business value of social media users.

    To date we’ve seen services like Empire Avenue, Klout and Kred try to measure social media users’ real influence on the different web platforms which in turn allows businesses to allocate some sort of value.

    As social media and the web mature, we’ll see businesses spend more time understand where the value lies online.

    Each platform is going to have a different value to a business. Depending on the market, one person may be worth more on Twitter than on Facebook and similarly a business may put more value on members of a specific LinkedIn group or industry forum.

    What we shouldn’t confuse “value” with is how the services themselves make money. For Facebook, the value comes from the marketing opportunities presented by people sharing their lives while for LinkedIn it’s largely coming from employment related advertising and search.

    Other social media platforms are finding other ways to make money and each will have a different attraction to users, businesses and advertisers. All of which will affect their perceived value.

    That perceived value is the most important part of social media. If users don’t think a site adds something to their lives, then that service has no value to anyone.

    It’s tempting to think that people will object to having a “value” placed on their heads as users, but most folk understand the commercial TV and radio that does pretty much the same thing.

    The real question of how much people are prepared to share online will come when they understand the value of the data they are giving the social media platforms. When users start to understand this, they may ask for more service from these companies.

    What a Twitter user is worth right now is probably different to what they will be worth this time next year, but there’s no doubt we’ll all have a better idea.

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  • The auctioneer’s dream

    The auctioneer’s dream

    “One day I’m going to buy a whole pile of junk PCs from a company that’s gone bust and sell them at an auction like this,” said Mark, an old business partner, as I lost a bet that a group of almost valueless laptops wouldn’t be sold for more than $10 each.

    The media release behind yesterday’s article on protecting USB data found on attracted criticism about Cityrail’s attitude towards privacy – which is fair enough as good manners, if not privacy laws, dictate you’d wipe someone else’s data before giving a drive away.

    More notable in the IT News article is the comment that Paul Ducklin, chief technology officer at Sophos, “was shocked when the auction price was nearly twice the average retail value of the USBs.”

    Paying over the odds for second hand technology is a trap many fall for, the average consumer doesn’t comprehend just how much technology depreciates or the risks, such as malware or defective hardware, that could be found when you finally take that computer bought at auction home.

    The main attraction of auctions is that people believe they are getting a deal, the idea things were dirt cheap on eBay drove the service’s growth for much of its first ten years.

    Of course that hasn’t been the case for some time and many people paid a lot of money for junk they didn’t need even when things were “cheap”.

    The only way to really get a deal at auction is to know the retail price, then factor in realistic depreciation and the risk of buying a dud.

    My rule of thumb at those IT auctions I used to attend with Mark was that when the bids passed more than a third of the retail price, people were overpaying. I rarely bought anything except office chairs and the odd filing cabinet.

    I haven’t heard from Mark for a while, I suspect his business plan didn’t work out when he overpaid for some surplus equipment from a liquidator.

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  • What business can learn from Groupon

    What business can learn from Groupon

    Groupon, pioneer of group buying and one the fastest growing companies in history, will have its launch on the stock markets today with an initial public offering (IPO) that’s values the business at thirteen billion dollars, more double the $6bn that Google offered for the three year old company last year.

    A recent Business Insider profile of Groupon had some fascinating insights on this unique company and its growth, there’s a number of lessons that most business owners, entrepreneurs and managers can take from this company’s dramatic growth and market leadership regardless of the sector they operate in.

    Apply tech to your business

    Many people make the mistake that Groupon is tech startup when it’s actually a sales operation.

    Groupon’s business model isn’t really new, what they have done is applied various web technologies to the directory and voucher shopping industries and come up with a 21st Century way of doing things.

    Bringing together different modern tools like social media, cloud computing, local search and the mobile web makes businesses more flexible and quick to develop new market opportunities.

    Prepare for quick changes

    Groupon was born out of another business – The Point. As The Point steadily died, Andrew Mason and his mentor Eric Lefkofsky decided to try something different and Groupon was born.

    This ability to change focus quickly – often called “pivoting” – is essential in changing markets. In volatile times like today where today’s business conditions can’t be taken for granted we have to be prepared for rapid changes.

    Fortunately the cost and time to changes your business focus has dropped dramatically with digital and online tools, which is another reason to embrace tech.

    Get a good business mentor

    Eric Lefkofsky bought maturity and a perspective to Groupon’s young leadership, having a different and more experienced view of the business helped it develop and grab the opportunity.

    An experienced business mentor can be worth their weight in gold.

    Back a good idea

    In Nicholas Carson’s Business Insider profile he describes Andrew Mason role at Eric Lefkofski’s business before The Point as “an intern, ‘kind of squatting in their offices’”. Lefkofski was prepared to back the geeky kid camping on his premises.

    Putting your prejudices and judgements on the shelf to back good ideas, particularly those that don’t cost much to execute, is one way to find where the opportunities lie.

    Tell your business story

    Regardless of what you think of Groupon’s claims, they tell a very good story which has lead to their amazing growth and the development of the group buying industry.

    Being able to tell your story, in your terms, is one of the great advantages the web, local search and social media deliver. There’s no reason why your business shouldn’t be dominating the local market in whatever field you work in.

    Regardless of what your business does, it can benefit from applying the online tools that are available to all of us.

    We may not be the next Groupon but the web gives us the opportunity to build our business to take advantage of the 21st Century. It’s worthwhile understanding the new tools at our fingertips.

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  • The reverse ambush

    The reverse ambush

    As the Apple faithful starting queuing outside stores to buy the latest version of the iPhone, in Sydney electronics manufacturer Samsung set up an outlet a few doors up the street and offering $2 Samsung Galaxy phones.

    Some in the press portrayed this as “ambush marketing” by Samsung, claiming that the Korean company has stolen coverage from Apple.

    In reality, all the stunt has done is emphasise the different market positions of the companies; Samsung have people camping out for $2 phones while a few doors up the street there’s a bigger line for an $800 Apple product.

    The message is clear; Apple’s products are more desirable than Samsung’s at even 400 times the price.

    Whatever Steve Jobs was reincarnated as – a Bogong Moth or the next Dalai Lama – he’s laughing right now.

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