Archive for January, 2011
QR Codes Have the Beer Can Problem
Jan 30th
There continues to be a steady buzz about QR codes, those bar code-looking thingys that can be scanned by a smart phone to link you to added content, a website or perhaps even a coupon at the point of purchase. Here’s the Wikipedia definition.
I’m not an expert in QR codes – or anything for that matter — but I’ve been around long enough to have a good idea if something is going to work or not. I’m thinking the buzz on QR codes may be short-lived – and I’d like to explain why by telling you a short story about a beer can.
One of my most interesting jobs was global marketing director for aluminum packaging products (like beverage cans). While this may sound mundane, the opportunity to nurture $2.5 billion in sales with some of the world’s biggest brands was a lot of fun!
On a customer trip, I noticed the flight attendant had a lanyard around her neck with a strange plastic device on the end. The device served as a fulcrum that she used under the tabs to open each can. I asked her why she just didn’t open the pop-tops with her fingers and she pointed to her well-manicured nails.
I suddenly realized that our humble package had a big problem. A significant part of the population — people with manicured nails — needed a secondary device to open the package. We were vulnerable! Any competing package that did not require a secondary “opener” (like plastic bottles) would be preferred by these consumers!
This revelation led to an R&D project aimed at an easier-opening lid which included a depressed “well” under the tab to protect well-groomed nails.
QR codes are vulnerable in the same way — you need an “opener” to get to the goods. Consumers will resist this, especially if there is an alternative — and there is.
Last summer I was in Bordeaux and noticed they had QR code posters everywhere to provide information on city events. I was a tourist with money to spend — their target market — but I couldn’t use the system. Problem 1: The instructions were in French. Problem 2: You had to download special software to access the information. Problem 3: As an international visitor, I would have to access expensive roaming charges just to get the code.
The “opener” in this case was a significant obstacle. If the city went to the trouble of creating posters, why not put up one up that simply had the information people needed? Why make me WORK for it?
Now suppose such a helpful poster existed … you would still have the problem of a language barrier, right? The problem could easily be solved for anybody that had a free smartphone app called WordLens. This technology is part of a swelling trend called augmented reality that I think will leap-frog the QR code innovation.
In this example, by simply holding the phone in front of the foreign language, you get an instantaneous translation and access to the information when you need it, where you need it. No instructions. No dependence on an Internet connection. No expenditure in time or expense. It’s just an extraordinarily user-friendly experience.
I don’t think you can question the power of the idea behind QR Codes but I have reservations about customer adoption. I believe augmented reality is one of the seminal technologies of 2011 and a development that could obsolete QR codes in many cases. Imagine holding your phone up in front of a city street and having discounts, movie times, even names of nearby friends overlayed on top of the buildings? Or using the phone to scan a display of shirts to immediately find your size, discounts, and matching pants and accessories?
There will probably be legitimate uses for QR codes, especially for industrial applications and logistics tracking, but I believe augmented reality may leap-frog the innovation in the consumer arena before it leaves the gate. This is just one opinion and I’m sincerely open for debate here — what’s your take on it?
Illustration: AdamThompson
LinkedIn Just Turned You Into a Butterfly
Jan 28th
Don’t you think these bizarre new media “visualizations” have gone too far? The picture above is not a map of Africa on Acid, it’s a new LinkedIn product called InMaps. Here is how the company describes it:
“InMaps is an interactive visual representation of your professional universe. With it you can better leverage your professional network to help pass along job opportunities, seek professional advice, gather insights, and more.”
Here is my official review of it: “Bite me.”
I am so sick of “info-graphics” that make you work for information. Will somebody please hand me a freaking pie chart so I can soothe myself? What am I supposed to learn from this ridiculous LinkedIn cotton candy butterfly?
Now in all fairness, this illustration does not give credit to the interactive majesty of the real thing. If I hover over a nodule I get somebody’s face. So I all day long I can decorate my butterfly with little pictures of my friends.
Isn’t there anybody at LinkedIn who is thinking “Ya know, this is really dumb. We’re about to embarrass ourselves.”
And while we’re on the subject of visualizations, stop with the damn word clouds people. Here is a word cloud from a blogging blog. Would you have ever guessed that their cloud indicates they write about blogs and blogging? Well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit! Isn’t THAT a surprise?
Here’s another “visualization” showing the power of my Twitter connections. Like me, I’m sure you’ll spend all day staring at your naval trying to figure this one out …
And let’s not forget the popularity of nodes. When new media really wants to create a chart with impact they node-ify it. Like this example, they usually put the user in the middle, creating a Zen-like chart that shouts “YES! In fact the world DOES revolve around you. That’s why we’re on social media in the first place, right?
At the end of the day, we have simply forgotten how to properly display information. The medium is obscuring the message. Let me demonstrate what a real “info-graphic” is supposed to look like:
See how simple this is? No user’s guide required. You don’t even have to ‘splain it. Using information from my own statistically-valid study of Guy Kawasaki, his strategy emerges before our eyes! We can easily see how Guy contributes to the endless fun of the Internet with his intellectual tweets that captivate, stimulate and drive the all-important “conversation.”
For you new media types, I would like to introduce another innovation called the “bar chart.” No nodes, no butterflies, just good ol’ helpful data:
In this example, collected from the latest U.S. census, we see that the people who identify themselves as a “social media guru” in America actually exceeds the current population. Talk about a growth industry!
I hope this lesson in displaying data will help all of you realize that it’s time to return to a simpler life, when we could use statistics to lie about our companies in ways everyone could understand.
I for one have had enough. I’m beginning a new non-profit organization called Better Information Through Charts and Histograms, or BITCH for short. Please join me, won’t you? Give generously so that I may continue my efforts to stamp out clouds and spyrograph thingys.
Remember my dear friends, before you make a pitch, send money to BITCH.
Improve your blog. Stop writing for an audience!
Jan 27th
I’m a little freaked about this post. I’m afraid people will read only the blog headline and get out their pitchforks and torches. So please glance at least a few more sentences before hitting the comment section, OK?
I’d like to challenge this beloved notion — perhaps this social media myth — that you blog for a community, not yourself.
When you started your blog, you weren’t blogging for a community because you didn’t have one. You were blogging for some personal benefit. Maybe it was the HOPE of finding an audience. Or money. Perhaps recognition that will lead to new opportunities? Maybe it’s just a fun, creative outlet. But I think the core of blogging is about you and your goals isn’t it? I mean, there has to be some personal benefit to it or you wouldn’t be spending so much time on it.
From a purely psychological perspective, humans don’t willingly engage in activities that don’t provide some benefit. Except when watching reality TV.
Now I fully recognize that you have to write something that attracts and retains an audience and I also know it’s important to stay within a certain theme or you will lose your readers. But let me tell you the biggest blogging mistake I ever made — I wrote for an audience!
Yes, in a classic marketing fashion, I had identified my “target” market, my “personas,” my keywords, and my content plan. l had it all figured out!
And I blogged for awhile trying to reach those folks. It didn’t take me long to become bored writing what I thought other people might want to read … and I wasn’t having any success any way. So a little at a time, I began to relax, have more fun, and write about things I was interested in.
Funny thing happened. Instead of finding my audience, my audience found me. And that is when everything changed. Pretty quickly my blog had a small band of very engaged and loyal readers.
I think the notion of “writing for the audience” sounds politically correct, charitable, and very social media-esque but practically speaking, if you don’t ultimately write about what YOU’RE passionate about in a way that meets YOUR goals, you’re going to bore everybody and fail.
If you follow that line of thinking, there are interesting implications for corporate blogs aren’t there?
OK, now that you have completed this post, you are entitled to your pitchforks, hot tar, or any other Medieval weapon of choice. Please commence with the beating in the comment chamber below.
How a Blog Went From Zero to AdAge 100 in Nine Months
Jan 25th
The success of {grow} has been stranger than science fiction and a wonderful surprise. In less than nine months, it’s rocketed up the charts from being unranked to as high as 65 on the Ad Age list of global marketing blogs.
My friend Adam Vincenzini recently asked me to describe the keys to this success. I’m not sure I can — which I understand is a wholly unacceptable answer! But I can certainly describe what I have LEARNED.
First you should understand that the Ad Age list is not necessarily a reflection on the quality or even the popularity of a blog, including mine.
Blog alchemy
The list is comprised of five individual scores which together create a somewhat controversial alchemy of algorithms. Only one of these five scores is tangentially associated with reader engagement as expressed by number of tweets, comments, etc. If rated only on engagement, my blog would be in the top 25 of all marketing blogs … thanks to YOU!
The Power 150 ranking is also highly dependent on historical back links, directory submissions and other SEO blogging devices. That puts a new blogger at a permanent disadvantage. Older blogs will probably always be at the top of the list no matter how hard anybody works on their blog in the future.
A very real example of this — there is one blog in the Top 100 that has not been updated for two years! Based on this strange scoring system, I would guess top guns like Chris Brogan or Copyblogger could never write a post again and still not drop out of the Top 10! I think it would be more fair to have some sort of running average based on the last 12 months.
But however flawed the system may be, it is the most noteworthy and prestigious system around. And I also think it passes the “sniff” test — if you look at the blogs at the top, I think most professionals would concur that yes, they reflect some of the best blogs out there. So, I’m honored to be part of it.
A different path for {grow}
I have not followed a typical path to success that you might read about on Problogger or TopRank because I simply don’t have the time and energy to pay attention to keywords, backlinks, and self-promotion. I have literally spent ZERO time worrying about SEO. For better or worse, I just write.
This attention to content and personal respect for my readers may be the thing that has helped power the blog. In fact, I have evidence to suggest that traffic from search engines only results in “tourists,” not really anybody who becomes a contributor to the community. I find that authentically engaging on Facebook, Twitter, and the comment section is a much more effective way to build a real audience instead of just blog traffic. There is no SEO short-cut to success. You have to create value one reader at a time.
I can offer four core values I try to demonstrate with every post:
1) Content that is “RITE” — Relevant, Interesting, Timely and Entertaining. I try to write a blog post that only I could write. In the end that’s the only competitive advantage each of us has.
2) I honor my audience. Anybody who spends their time reading and commenting on my blog deserves my care and attention. I try to reply to each comment and if I can’t answer something succinctly, I invite the commenter to call me. I have provided employment, recommendations, guest posts, personal advice and much more to my readers because they have become my friends.
3) Humility. On most blogs the comments are far better than the original post because the world is filled with people smarter than me — people who are amazing in their own way. I love that. I respect that. I thrive on that diversity. So many bloggers write with this air of self-righteousness or a trumped-up voice of indignation. Who am I? A conversation starter, nothing more.
4) Consistency. I don’t consider blogging an after-thought. It’s difficult to be consistent but it has to be a priority. I have a family, a career and charitable projects. To make a blog achieve its full potential, you have to work like hell.
Where does it go from here?
I question whether {grow} can sustain its place in the Top 100, let alone move up any further. The primary reason — there is only a handful of blogs at that level written by one person instead of an organization. As the blogosphere gets more crowded, it will be tougher to compete as a solo artist when everybody else is playing with a back-up band! But who knows? I’ve been wrong plenty of times — as you well know!
This would be a good time to say THANK YOU. Blogging is the best part of my job thanks to your comments, tweets, and amazing support! I think this is the best blog community on the social web! Thank you for being so very generous to me and loyal to the community.
Any way, that’s the best I can do as far as what drives the success of {grow}. It’s an unorthodox approach, but maybe it can work for you too? What do you think?
Note: After I published this post, Debra Andrews of Marketri pointed out that some people might infer that I have only been blogging for nine months. I began blogging in April, 2009 and was unranked for a year (until April, 2010). So from the time I was a “zero” on the list of more than 1,000 blogs until the time I was in the Top 100, it was nine months. I wanted to clarify this point and thank Debra for pointing this out! Sorry if I was unclear.
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-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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