Dr. Neil Hair

Flying the flag, but failing in the plight of the personal brand? Did you know that the world wide web was invented by a Brit? Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented global hypertext - the language that allows us to share and experience hypermedia information (web sites people) - and is now, largely as a result of this, a Knight of the British Empire. Sir Tim also embodies the simple fact that engineers do not always make good designers when it comes to personal home pages. As you will see, there is much to be learnt. Closer to home in America, I am increasingly alarmed at the fact that students getting ready to graduate have little to no experience with managing their own 'personal brand'. Whilst I've eluded to tactics that might be adopted in previous posts I've not talked as much about the use of sites. As with any strategy, benchmarking good practice is a sensible starting place. See what others are doing out there, forget google, for the moment. Consider looking through student homepages that are situated on university servers. Not everyone can afford expensive monthly charges on external hosts. You'll spend more time swearing at google then gaining any benefit from it. Consider a virtual CV, additional points about you that you cant cram onto a single sheet of paper. Dont forget the blog, but please make it relevant (no one need know you penchant for 'Pearings with Andria' or your love of Monty Python [as commendable as those things are]). Pictures also add value to a prospective employer, they show a life outside of work, outside of university and outside the 2 dimensional resume. What about examples of your efforts? Market yourself in the same way you'll be asked to market your organization. Remember above all else though, that the site should be professional in nature, the frat pics have got to go the same way as the schmuck@schmucksville.com email address and 'tanning with my girls' comments in personal interests of your bios. For a good example of how to do it, visit my good friend and former student's site www.mopostal.com. A similarly excellent example is that of Jason Parry, another former student whose work remains cutting edge http://homepage.mac.com/jason.parry/. Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the means by which we can communicate our wares, what you do with it to market yourselves is limited only by your own creativity. As ever, I would love to hear from your own efforts in this area.

Couldn't help but notice the continued debate with Sony's guerilla marketing activities. As if the company didn't have enough on its plate with its invasion of spyware on peoples pcs. What I find amusing is the backlash that's being experienced. I guess consumers (even urban nomads - interesting profiling mechanism by the way) aren't so easily amused with new ideas. Or perhaps they were amused for all of a few hours and then rejected the idea. Of course the real winner in all of this debate is Sony, it's better to be talked about and despised then not talked about at all and loved quietly.

Another great article on the advent of mobile television services with commentary on its implications for advertising.

Don't worry, I have it on good authority that the guy in the photo does not in fact die at the hands of a red bus, but is merely startled by his near miss as a result of watching Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear with his headphones on.

An update on the state of television advertising which I found interesting.

Out with the old as they say. I can't be the only person on the planet who feels a slight sense of indignation that good money has (with time unfolding) been wasted on prevailing 'state of the art' technology. I am of course referring to my recent decision to discard a number of pieces of old technology (no batteries of course, that would be illegal!). The list seems these days to be endless; 1. A portable click drive (from those wonderful people at Iomega, who sold me 4 click disks for this drive each storing 40mb of space and a portable unit that took older smart media). The idea behind this was that my old JVC digital still camera could transfer its 16mb of pictures to these cheap disks saving me from having to buy more expensive smart media. I used this twice in its life (and only one of the click disks). 2. A solid state Sony dictaphone with 8mb of memory (6 hours) for digitally recording interviews. This worked for about a year before giving up the ghost ten minutes before I attempted to interview a CEO from Unisys Great Britain. Thankfully my Samsung phone picked up the pieces (and hell, I lost ten pounds in the space of about three minutes sat slumped up against the wheel of my hire car in an Uxbridge carpark). I remember last seeing it bouncing majestically across the M40 towards oncoming traffic at about 80 miles and hour on the return journey. Rest in pieces my old friend, rest in pieces. 3. A Siemens pen reader (£30 from a special mail order company) which used a serial connection (think hald the size of the old printer connections). Used once, traced across the abstract of some terribly important marketing journal at the commencement of my PhD. Last seen holding it's own as a book mark in that said journal in Cranfield. 4. A portable Zip drive (parallel port connector). Along with about 20 very portable 100mb zip disks. Together with a rather expensive 120v voltage adapter since the creators of the original drive didnt foresee international travelers using it any time soon. Last seen 'clicking' its way towards heaven (aided by anunceremonious thrashing against a back street wall in Sheffield). The said drive cost me two months of lost lecture materials. 5. A Commodore 64. This one hurt. Old faithful (together with about 200 disks crammed packed with the then latest games - persian prince [original], green beret and chucky egg amongst them) rediscovered in a disused wardrobe in my mothers garage sporting lovely shades of mildew 15 years after it was last used. It now sits proudly in some refuse land mass in southern Oxfordshire (along with the 200 games, a joystick that never really worked, a tape player, and a disk drive that was as slow as the tape player). Rest in piece my old friend, rest in piece. 6. A set of weird and wonderful cables consisting of lots of different colours and sizes that seem to display an unnatural desire to procreate at any given chance with no particular reason or purpose in mind. I am of course referring in this instance to the 17 cables (yes 17!) that were recently binned having made their way back from the US in 2001 to the UK, (some of them from the UK to the USA in 99) and then back again after a nice little holiday otherwise known as Neil's PhD hiatus, to the USA. I cannot be the only one in the world that feels this deep need to 'keep em just in case they come in handy!' pathology. Cables gone, revenge exacted with a pair of kitchen scissors. Likelihood of a visit to Radio Shack in the near future? High. Please - marketers of new technology take heed. Those of us in the game have long since recognized the damage that buyers remorse can inflict on relationships, loyalty and feelings of self worth. Give us another reason to love you. Asking us to recycle batteries is not enough! What about the rest of the crap you've sold us? I'm not asking you to pay me for it, I paid you after all for the privaledge of ownership! Just work on the after sale service, offer us a chance to recycle these items or donate them to people that still use or want them. Last time I checked there were five stages of the buyer behaviour process - post purchase behaviour being one of them (and the most important in terms of repeat purchases). You're missing a trick. Oh and I will never forgive Sony for making me throw away my 1st and THE 1st Walkman that was given to me by my mother in 1980. So what if it no longer played music in the left ear. Apple? Eat your heart out, coolness will forever live in the colours of blue, yellow and gray.

It's official. Brits spend more online then any other European nation proving once and for all, that there is a market for US retail consumer goods manufacturers in 'blighty'. No excuse guys, step up and take your share of the £.

Here's another report on European Internet use which states British purchases out-number average US purchases by up to 33% pa.

A favourite annoyance of mine as those of you know me will attest, is the continued lack of interest shown by many US retailers for foreign consumer markets. Perhaps with the prospects of international TV audiences looming large, spearheaded primarily by one of this years hot products at the consumer electronics show in Vegas, things will finally start to change. I am of course referring to Slingmedia. What I love - no - ADORE about this product is it's versatility and it's ability to sling any home media, be it music, dvd's, cable or terrestrial channels - anywhere in the world provided you have internet access. The clever devils are even developing pocketpc versions and (most importantly for me) a PAL version (the European TV standard). This of course means that I will eventually be able to partake in one of my all time favourite hobbies - watching British adverts. I'm joking, but the bigger point shouldn't be missed. The argument is as follows: more and more Europeans will end up watching US cable channels where programmes are often aired months in advance of their European counterpart stations, with that also comes the opportunity for your marketing messages to reach far greater audiences and for smaller retailers to ultimately achieve larger sales. Whether US retailers choose to service this market of course remains to be seen. I for one though am looking forward to being able to watch the Rugby on the BBC1 and Channel4 News when I choose. As the internet takes off and broadband enabled TV takes hold it will be interesting to see how advertisers react. As if they haven't enough on their plates with TIVO!

I was recently asked by the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle to comment on Kodak's new logo. See the full article here…

It struck me earlier this week that another reason for having a personal website other then self branding (see previous posts) is the fascination attributed to examining web traffic. Two weeks ago my site was visited by someone from Tajikistan. I must have spent 20 minutes trying to recall acquaintances from that region. South Korea, Australia, Norway, South Africa, Japan, Brazil and of course occasionally people from England hit my site and stay a while. One of the benefits of being a professor is the varied peoples you come across, as colleagues, students, research associates and so on. Occasionally though, you get a hit from a country like Norway and you immediately recall a good friend from your undergraduate college days. Morten, if you're reading this, get in touch - I've lost your details. It's a kind of personal friends reunited (a British site that has gained ledgendary status in terms of traffic). Of course there are many commercial reasons for tracking visitors to your site: it's useful for seeing who is looking over your digital resume, which search engine and what terms have been used to get to you so you can better place yourself, how long people stay (perhaps an indication of interest in what you have to say) in which sections of your site (if photos are more popular then your resume perhaps more friends are visiting you), and looking at the screen resolution or browser people use to peruse the site (you want to look good afterall and can redesign your site to take these factors into account). Fascinating stuff. And for those of you that don't know, Tajikistan is a small Asian country that borders Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.

As promised a viewpoint I have published in the Rochester Business Journal (6th Jan 2006) entitled: Guerilla Marketing: A Small Firm’s Revenge on the World of Big Business. As ever, thoughts and comments are appreciated.

For years we were taught the importance of gaining new customers, exploring new markets, developing new products and services and that being bigger meant being best and being best meant being first. My own experience as a consultant and professor of marketing is that many smaller firms are increasingly frustrated with out of date thinking in this regard. Enter the Guerilla Marketing era. Largely defined as unconventional marketing aimed at achieving maximum results with minimum effort, the phrase is often attributed to the work of Jay Levinson. The concept mirrors that of guerilla warfare, rather than battling big business with conventional tools of the marketing arsenal, the guerilla marketer snipes away with their limited resources for maximum impact choosing which market, where and when to strike. Several points help distinguish between traditional and contemporary practices: the investment required of the old, versus the enthusiasm, energy, creativity and imagination of the new; a focus on the sale, versus the development of the continued relationship; adversarial approaches to achieving objectives versus cooperative arrangements and finally, the ability to embrace new technology in pursuing low cost methods that achieve results. I’d like to focus on two of these issues as they often form the bedrock of any Guerilla Marketing campaign; the concepts of Relationship Marketing and Viral or Buzz marketing.

Relationship Marketing is built on the maxim that it is on average five to seven times more expensive, time consuming and more wasteful to pursue new customers than it is to keep existing customers happy. This makes good sense for a number of reasons. Existing customers often have the best insight into what makes your business competitive - why they keep coming back. Smaller firms can rely on their highly sensitive touch or contact points with the customer to create a more personal relationship. Use this to understand what makes you different, inform your marketing messages accordingly, enhance your product or service offering and ultimately deliver stronger value propositions than the larger competitor. Existing customers also tend to be more loyal and trusting, and eventually they become advocates of your business. This leads us to Viral marketing which denotes the use of word of mouth, often with a focus on the internet, in spreading the word of the company’s product or service. The idea is simple - get others to talk about you. A range of low cost high impact technologies are available such as the use of special interest electronic forums or communities. I recall working with one highly specialized manufacturer of wood turning tools in the UK whose managing director made a number of associated newsgroups his first port of call in the day. He would answer questions about techniques, offer advice on maintaining equipment (not just his own brand but that of competitors), and point consumers in the direction of further reading, experts in the field and other resources on the internet. An hour a day might initially seem a waste of limited resources; however the small sales department noticed an increase in overseas and internet orders almost immediately. News of this helpfulness also spread to other forums, e-zines (electronic news letters) of hobbyists, and blogs (online diaries) both in the UK and overseas. It is by no accident that his major internet based consumer market is now the United States. Opt in email lists are another cheap way of staying in touch with your customer. A regular newsletter announcing new features, coupons, demonstrations or networking opportunities, creates compelling content that demonstrates your value added.

There are a few caveats to consider when negotiating this new territory. Any Guerilla Marketing campaign needs to follow from a well thought out marketing plan. While it is relatively straightforward to identify possible tactics, one should question the relevance of such approaches to one’s own business. A critical and impartial review is therefore vital and therefore often forms the starting point of any sensible plan of action. Calling on outside help in this regard is often insightful and you don’t have to spend a lot of money on exorbitant day rates to get good advice. As a first port of call consult your best customers; understanding them is critical. Consider the use of those training to become the guerilla marketers and consultants of tomorrow. Enlist the help of students from one of Rochester’s many colleges, MBA programs and design schools. This constitutes assistance from those undergoing relevant training, who tend to be masters of achieving a lot from very little. Don’t discount undergraduate students - in my experience they often have significant creative insight and skill sets, the ability to look at an old problem with fresh eyes, and are most able to employ the technology in achieving our marketing aims and objectives. Consider the use of a student project, or a co-op or intern looking for experience. These are often win-win scenarios for both parties at little to no cost. Enlist the advice of local business groups and possible partners to work with you. Consider pooling resources with those of associated products or services. As Kenichi Omae, one of the world’s top management gurus often noted, in times of trouble, just like nation states, it is better not to go it alone. A sensible plan also requires a sensible set of objectives to achieve. Keep these realistic, time related and where possible, measurable. One problem with Guerilla tactics is the difficulty with which you measure impact. Consider your alternatives and employ a selection of criteria that will guide your final decision on a course of action. Finally, perhaps the most important success factor is making sure you enjoy the process. Guerilla marketing requires passion, energy, enthusiasm and commitment. Having fun is, after all, the ultimate form of revenge on the world of big business.