If you didn't see Seth Godin's blog this week - there was really an extraordinary post. He released the "What Matters Now" free e-book on his blog. In it, he has rounded up more than seventy "big thinkers" and asked them to riff on a single word each. The seventy words that make up the e-book are just a wonderful way to spend a half hour over the holiday. I'm sure it's one of those things that I'll no doubt refer back to many times next year.
But one of the biggest surprises was the ommission of one particular word. It's a word I've been thinking alot about lately - and so with all due respect - and in celebration of Seth's exercize - my word for What Matters Now is "Open".
Open To Being Open
I think we can all agree that 2009 was a challenging year. And "Open" got alot of buzz in 2009. As marketers, we were encouraged to try "Open Source" technology solutions - or at least those that had "Open Standards". We heard about Google's "Open Social" - which disapeared just as quickly. We also were told to be more "Open and Transparent" in our social media and marketing process. And, of course who could forget the tried and true "Open Rates" of our email campaigns - which (apparently) we're still planning on spending more dough on.
But in the spirit of Seth's ebook I wanted to propose a different angle on "Open" for 2010. I'd like to propose that 2010 is a year that we're open to being open. I want to suggest that we get beyond the fear that we've "lost control" of our brand. I'd like to suggest that an ROI calculation for every experiment we try is not a must-have. And, I'd like to suggest that in 2010 our focus should not be how we can differentiate from our competitor, but rather how we can be our unique us!
So, let's look at these three.....
1. Is Your Brand Open Or Closed - Or Somewhere In The Middle?
There is a wonderful quote by the scholar and professor Warren Bennis who says "the art of leadership is knowing how much information you're going to pass on -- to keep people motivated and to be as honest, as upfront, as you can. But, boy, there really are limits to that".
Put simply - No, our brand is NOT the first page of Google results. In 2010 let's recognize that we can get beyond the fear of completely "losing control" of our brand - and we can maintain leadership and our ability to shape the discussion about our brand. But, we can only do that if we are willing to participate in the discussion. We have to be open to participation - and we have to be open to much greater transparency once we decide to participate. That goes for our marketing message, our content, our conversations - and the way we treat customers. As Jason Fried, founder of 37signals says in the e-book: "mistakes happen. How you apologize matters. Don't bullshit people - just say 'I'm sorry' and mean it."
2. Be Open To Failure.
In What's The Future of Business? - a great slide presentation put out earlier this year by the Altimeter Group, they discuss "failing fast" or "failing smart". This is an extraordinarily important piece of our marketing strategy to which we need to be open. We've got to get out of the mindset that we must have an immediate ROI calculation for every tactic we try. I've certainly blogged on this before here - and here. But really, the key is that if we develop a fast iterating marketing strategy - we can be open to failure, because we will succeed. And when we do - THEN we can develop an ROI plan for that tactic. Remember, there's no need to develop an ROI on a failed tactic - only a successful one. The whole point of a Return on Investment - means that you intend to continue investing so that you can measure it's improved return.
3. Be Open To Be You
Guess what? You're not the only solution for what you do. And, even if you are momentarily - if you're successful - you won't be alone for long. Being different than your competition is always temporary and it's always easy to copy. If you're successful, you'll be copied. And, if you're not - you may be tempted to copy your competitor. Stop differentiating yourself and instead be open to being the unique you. And, that means for you - and your organization's identity.
In 2010, you have the choice. You can be noisier (e.g. simply spend more on media). You can be weird and different just to be weird and different (e.g. spend more for the new brand,the new logo or the viral video). You can develop the "new" new thing for a different vertical (e.g. repackage your solution to address a new market) and myriad other things to make yourself different.
Or, you can make the choice to be open and focus on what makes you and your organization - you. No one can copy you and your voice. No one can bring the experiences you've had with your customers (good and bad). Who are the voices in your organization - how can we harness the uniqueness of "us" into our marketing strategy - so that we stop trying to differentiate ourselves against our competition - and instead focus on being the unique "us". That authenticity (in the truest sense of the meaning of that word) is what will develop trust with our constituents. It's what will separate our signal from the noise.
In Seth's e-book - he takes on the word "Generosity". And, he says "If you make a difference, people will gravitate to you.... In a digital world, the gift I give you almost always benefits me more than it costs".
As we go into the season of gift-giving and celebrate the close of this year - I hope we'll all remember that. 2009 was no doubt a challenging year. But let's give ourselves one important gift in 2010 - a year full of openness to new ideas, energy and a promise to ourselves to bring our unique gifts to the table. I wish you all a joyous holiday season and the best and most prosperous new year!
