By 2012, Mass Relevance was proving its expertise in curating real-time Twitter content for TV shows like X Factor, Inside the NBA, the Super Bowl, and the Royal Wedding. On July 6, 2011, we powered the first live Obama Twitter Town Hall, marking a proud moment for our team (Read "The Secret Company Behind Twitter's TV Takeover") For about a year, I pursued Facebook to do the same with their data. Every other month, I contacted my Facebook contacts via email and phone. Someti

I watched a documentary on Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini (boxer), a champion boxer. He said, “It is very hard to get to the top, but it is even harder to stay there.” I would assert that the hype of ‘being on top’ or the ‘coolest new thing’ for a person, topic or company has a half life that continues to decrease. It is the rare entity that can sustain greatness. But it happens for companies like USAA and Costco who keep a watchful eye on customer satisfaction. Name a restaurant th

We started second annual Capital Factory program which I co-founded with Joshua Baer and Bryan Menell last year. I'm excited about this year's companies, some are further along than others, but I'm most impressed with the entrepreneurs themselves. Here are the companies: Hurricane Party (Austin, TX) – a location-based social networking application that helps users create, manage and discover events that are relevant to them. Simpz (Boston, MA) – helps event organizers reach

This morning I got a research brief from Mediapost summarizing the findings from the Marketing Effectiveness Networking Group (MENG) and Anderson Aanlytics study. This study surveyed marketing executives to identify key trends and strategies of effective marketing. The subject line of the email said: "Marketing Execs Say Basics Are Most Important in 2008". By "basics" I thought they meant strategies such as becoming measurement-oriented, shifting ad portfolio, investing in em

My new friend never told me he was a Navy Seal. Serendipitously I found out he was a Seal through a web search on his name. I was looking for ‘extreme fitness’ (a la Navy Seal training) in Austin and saw his name on a web site. I admired his humility, which underscored his integrity, in my book. In contrast, I know many people who constantly name drop and talk about their achievements, connections and background in the first paragraph of meeting them. Which approach, in the

Here are some of my favorite snippets from this book: Definition of WOM: Giving people a reason to talk about your stuff and making it easier for that conversation to take place. +++ Earn the respect and recommendation of your customers, and they will do the rest. Treat people well; they will do your marketing for you, for free. Be interesting, or be invisible. +++ Rule #1: Be Interesting Rule #2: Make People Happy Rule #3: Earn Trust and Respect Rule #4: Make It Easy +++ Whe

Bullseye marketing is focused on the fundamentals first. Sure, you can try the half-court shot marketing ideas…but odds are you will hit the outer rings. Why not first execute on activities that will make the most impact. There are only three sources of revenue that flow into an organization: Get more customers Get more from each customer Get customers to frequent more often. Starting with this foundation, formulate strategies and process to execute on these sources of revenu

Marketers, CEOs, and Salespeople may look at marketing as an investment. As an investment you want to buy low and sell high. The CFO may look at marketing as an expense. He wants efficiency and lower costs. Either way, the business yearns for lower, more effective marketing. Many marketers I’ve talked to get a fixed expense for marketing budget…say 10% of revenue. As revenue goes up, so does marketing investments at the same rate. So, if revenue grows 20% year over year, then

Do these scenarios sound familiar? The CEO saw an idea work in a previous company and wants you to do the same thing. The sales leader insists a certain strategy is required to close sales A meeting created momentum for an idea, which came out of nowhere. Consultants have come in and presented their strategy (enough said) There’s pressure to copy what competitors do If you’ve been pulled off course from prioritizing the most impactful activities to drive business, you’ve shot

Prosci’s Change Management learning center features a report titledBest Practices in Change Management. As summarized by Be Excellent, here are 5 important findings: The #1 contributor to (business improvement) project success is active, strong and visible sponsorship throughout the project. The top obstacles to successful change are employee resistance at all levels: front-line, middle managers, and senior managers and inadequate senior management sponsorship. Employees want

THIS WAS A RECENT ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY WOMMA… "Customers are exposed to anywhere from 247 to 3000 commercial messages each day," says Sam Decker, vice president of marketing and products for Bazaarvoice. "The growing attention on word of mouth, authenticity, transparency, and social networking is in reaction to customer cynicism, distrust, sensory overload and lack of time." To market with — rather than to — consumers, Sam shares these five tips: Tip #1. Do the waggle dance

Several months ago I reflected on the parallel of nature, man and business in an article titled Tributary Leadership, mirroring the principles of rivers to good leadership. Here’s another one… There is an nature analogy that, among other things, reflects how consumers and markets are reach purchasing decisions. It is the honeybee Waggle Dance referenced in Thomas Seeley’s 1996 book, The Wisdom of the Hive and is paraphrased in James Surowiecki’s Wisdom of Crowds. What i

Through startups and Dell, I’ve worked hundreds of partnerships with suppliers and vendors. Many of them succeeded, and many failed. I’ve realized there is a primary reason when partnerships failed…Both sides had to change their processes / model The #1 Key to successful (read: profitable) partnerships is AT LEAST one side does not have to change their processes, business model, or sales model. If a vendor has a product they want to sell through your business, to your custom

John Moore of Brand Autopsy reports from Word of Mouth Marketing Summit (wish I could’ve gone!) a great summary of questions to ask before any marketing campaign — written by Emanual Rosen, author of Anatomy of Buzz. See John’s posting of Emanuel’s 10 Questions Marketing Should Ask Before Implementing the Next Campaign. Some suggestions may not be applicable for every company or every situation. Here are my top 3 picks: 1. Does the product lend itself to WOM? Is the product r

What’s wrong with this road sign in Las Vegas? When I saw this from dribbleglass.com it suggested several marketing principles: #1 Less is More It’s possible a driver could attempt to read this eye chart and miss the most important message on this sign…watch out for this giant curb! In marketing, it’s as important to decide what not to say as it is what to say. As a professional speaker, my father always suggested to me that the audience does not know what you didn’t tell the

There are only three sources of revenue that flow into an organization: 1. Get more customers 2. Get more from each customer 3. Get customers to frequent more often. Pretty basic, right? So then, when you formulate your goals and strategies, do you do the following? a. Estimate the headroom/opportunity for each of the above strategies at that point in your company lifecycle (i.e. a new company needs #1 before #2 can be impactful). b. Set goals for each. Set stretch goals for