Posts Tagged ‘Seth Godin’

ED paradox

Friday, July 23rd, 2010


What is it: A neat build on ‘expectation disconfirmation theory’ (ED), this is about managing expectations and the inherent tension that exists between setting a low expectation (which can be uninteresting) and a high one (which leads to great hopes).Clearly a high initial expectation creates greater opportunity for failure and a low initial expectation creates the potential for a delighted outcome – assuming one ever gets the chance to prove it.

Why is it cool: Though interesting in the context it is presented, ED theory should be considered the foundation for any service organisation.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: David Tunnicliffe

If we think of humanity as a kind of holistic organic melange of experience an ideas, this is a great way to draw on the powers of the collective brain.

A tale of two… lemonade stands

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Lemonade... that cool refreshing drink

What is it: In a short blog post, Seth tells the tale of two lemonade stands. It’s short, just read it.

Why is it cool: At pollinate, we pride ourselves on transcending mere research – or as the zen koan suggests, building cathedrals rather than merely laying bricks or earning a living. This little story is an inspiring reminder of how and why this works as a business model.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

What matters

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

What the shining light of inspiration might look like

What is it: A PDF put together by Seth Godin, containing one-pagers from 70+ thinkers and writers, giving some big ideas to take us into the new year.

Why is it cool: You’re bound to find something thought-provoking and maybe just the inspiration you need (even if you don’t know it!). A sample gem:

Some people ask, “What if I haven’t found my true passion?”

It’s dangerous to think in terms of “passion” and “purpose” because they sound like such huge overwhelming ideas.

If you think love needs to look like “Romeo and Juliet”, you’ll overlook a great relationship that grows slowly.

If you think you haven’t found your passion yet, you’re probably expecting it to be overwhelming.

Instead, just notice what excites you and what scares you on a small moment-to-moment level.

If you find yourself glued to Photoshop, playing around for hours, dive in deeper. Maybe that’s your new calling.

If you keep thinking about putting on a conference or being a Hollywood screenwriter, and you find the idea terrifies but intrigues you, it’s probably a worthy endeavor for you.

You grow (and thrive!) by doing what excites you and what scares you everyday, not by trying to find your passion.

- Derek Sivers, sivers.org

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Move over Alien vs. Predator

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

Two men enter...

What is it: A 5-minute streaming video where Martin Lindstrom interviews Seth Godin who offers relatively commonsense, and well considered advice about the alignment of charity and philanthropy through to sustainability to brands.

Why is it cool: These two guys are obviously at the top of their respective fields, so to see them together is interesting. Also, the advice has applications in research on sustainability, in the debate on ethics of client choice many companies undertake, and ultimately in the debate about our role as advisors to marketers. Succinctly put by Seth, “I’m pretty cynical about the selfishness of marketers.”

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: Dom McCarthy

Everyone can play

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

The book's not free, just the title

What is it: In defending a new book, “Free” by Chris Anderson, Seth offers big ideas:

  • the digital age has virtually eliminated cost of entry barriers
  • …so everyone can be a content creator
  • …and some of them will do it for free
  • …but, though not all of them do it well, some do: most people trust an amazon book review over their newspaper book review section
  • …as a result, content buyers are spoiled for choice. Why pay for yesterday’s news delivered a day late without dynamic commentary?
  • Smart marketers will match the “free” offer to get attention, particularly at the start of a campaign (think Word of Mouth media)
  • In the future, even free may be too expensive. Envision a day when the most desirable eyeballs are paid to give their attention to a marketer

Why is it cool: No one knows where the digital age will lead us, but only the last point above is a prediction. Everything else is an observation: free is happening. The question is, now that the sandbox is getting crowded, are we going to let ourselves get pushed out, or are we going to play? Online music publishing fought it and lost, and now news publishing is fighting it and losing. What will other marketers do?

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

New medium, new marketing

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

What misplaced advertising might look like

What is it: Big brand advertising has essentially failed on Facebook, so now the major advertisers have turned their attention to Twitter. Seth observes that the insanity of repeating the same mistake, and points out the difference social networks offer as a medium – there are millions of people to friend and interact with, why would you choose a brand advertisement?

And of those extreme advocates who do, do you really think the same old advertising is even useful?

Why is it cool: A consistent trend of the 21st century is the increasing consumer control consumers have over media, channel and choice. In this sense, instead of just doing what we did through the late 20th century (impersonal, mass marketing) in a new space, marketers need to look at new mediums in terms of what is appropriate for that medium.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Evolution of marketing communications

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

Arrows for your bow

What is it: Marketing had an arc. It started with personal, local interactions between real people and rapidly morphed into very corporate anonymous actions aimed at the unwilling masses. This has slowly phased back to personal interactions, via direct marketing, permission marketing and viral marketing.

Why is it cool: It’s to suggest that the return to one-on-one marketing highlights the folly of the mass marketing age. However, each of these media should be looked at as arrows for your communications bow: each has a potential use and purpose. The key is to highlight the relative advantages and disadvantages of each, so that we can use them better.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Self-actualisation

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

What self-actualising might look like

What is it: Marketing pundits have pointed out “choice paralysis” that consumers go through when confronted with too many options. With the proliferation of choice on the web, we are now drowning in an “infinity of content”. The challenge is no longer finding content.

In fact, the far more pressing problem for people is choosing what to look for. One way of looking at this choice is in terms of “self-actualisation” – what you search for, and what you gain from that search, changes who you are, making those choices ones determining your very being.

Why is it cool: There is a qualitative technique out there called Morphological Research, which hypothesises that every choice we make, whether we’re conscious of it or not, is an act of self-actualisation. By making a choice, we morph ourselves to an unconscious view we have of ourselves – or at least how we would like ourselves to be.

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka

Complicity

Monday, August 11th, 2008

Three wise monkeys

What is it: In this blog post, Seth questions the extent to which consumers are complicit with bad marketing and anti-sustainable business practices. On the one hand, one can criticise marketers and business people who do these things, but on the other hand consumers give tacit approval when they buy and use said products and services.

Why is it cool: This a great thought starter for how we (and our clients) conduct business. On the one hand we can all say our customers get exactly what they ask for (deserve).

But on the other, do we necessarily want to be complicit in the delivery of some of those things into the world? One can say “they’re going to get it somewhere” but then again we can also say that it won’t be from me (you, us).

Where to find it: here!

Submitted by: John Cucka