Come Sail Away to the Blue Ocean!

08/30/2010 Leave a Comment

(Originally posted June 10. 2010 on the Creative Energy Blog.)

What do Yellow Tail Wine, Cirque Du Soleil and Southwest have in common? The answer is pretty much nothing. What makes them special is they have even less in common with any organization that might be called a competitor. Which is why all three of them are great examples of Blue Ocean Strategy.

Blue Ocean Strategy is not about beating the competition or rising above them. Blue Ocean Strategy is about changing the paradigm of your business so fundamentally that the competition is irrelevant. With such a change the strength of the concept and the commitment of an organization to it are the only factors that truly matter.

In the case of Yellow Tail Wine, as the wine market continued to promote refinement and expertise, Yellow Tail adopted a wine-for-the-rest-of-us positioning. The organizations promotions and advertising had less to do with the wine than the party you’ll throw with the wine. In a world where microbreweries attempted to get beer drinkers to act more like wine drinkers, Yellow Tail revealed itself as a wine with a relaxed beer attitude… and its customer base loves Yellow Tail for it.

In the case of Cirque Du Soleil, a circuses struggle to make ends meet and deal with animal rights protesters all too ready to cut even deeper into their profits, Cirque De Soleil is something unheard of… a profitable circus. As a circus without animals, Cirque Du Soleil is an acrobat-based circus with gigantic sets and performers in outlandish, and sometimes near non-existent, costumes. It’s a circus for grownups with an equally grownup price tag, more inline with the ticket prices of a Broadway production. Yet, customers keep coming back for more.

In case of Southwest, here the paradigm shift may seem subtle, but the results are anything but subtle. As you read this particular example, you begin to realize that Southwest is not an airline at all, but a bus line with planes. From its operations and boarding to its contracts, pricing policy and employee relations, the standard airline model is gone. In effect, the operations of Southwest have more in common with Greyhound than Delta… and the bottom line results have been spectacular.

These are just three of the examples put forward in this remarkable book. Well written, well organized, superbly clear and excellently read by Grover Gardner (Yes, I listened to it from Audible.com) the only fault I can find with this book by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne is the lack of a sequel.

Published five years ago, Blue Ocean Strategy provided an excellent portrait of companies in tough industries. Based on current economic conditions, I for one would love to see a sequel displaying the reaction of these and other Blue Ocean companies in an even tougher economy.

In my yearning to delve deeper into the Blue Ocean ideology, I relisten/reread Zag by Marty Neumeier. Sharing many of the same themes as Blue Ocean, Zag focuses more narrowly on branding and marketing. Insightful and powerful, Zag none the less feels reactionary, whereas Blue Ocean is revolutionary

In short, in the world of Zag you do what your competitors aren’t doing, but in the world of Blue Ocean you do what your competitors would never even think of or dare. There lies the difference. There lies the brilliance.

Filed under Business, Marketing, Uncategorized Tagged with , , ,

A Well-Rounded Review of The World is Flat

08/29/2010 Leave a Comment

(Originally Posted Just 3, 2010 on the Creative Energy Blog)

In any discussion of international business, global marketing or outsourcing, inevitably the book, The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman, comes into the conversation. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

The first three quarters of this book are brilliant in many ways. They present an insightful portrait of the global economy, domestic needs for an improved federally based educational system and a major technological improvement to our technological infrastructure.

The book isolates game changing events in economics, technology and politics and makes the point that the fall of the Berlin Wall did more than free Eastern Europe. The fall proved to the third world once and for all a socialist, centrally planned economy cannot work.

Mr. Friedman does an excellent job of presenting that there is much more than cheap labor at play with the loss of domestic jobs to outsourcing. In fact, he effectively proves that protectionism is a costly and misguided program that’s more likely to handicap a nation’s quality of life than help it.

When facing overseas competition, protectionism is not and never has been the answer… education is. The more students we excite about math, science and engineering, the more innovations we can expect and the brighter our future.

Likewise, Friedman discusses how individuals can and have adapted to the global economy. These are people who have made deliberate choices pertaining to their careers and have come out on top as a direct result.

The only shortcoming is the last quarter of the book. Here the author’s forays off the reservation to make attacks on the Bush administration that are not supported by the facts… including the facts he presented. For example, no administration has done more to reduce protectionist policies and open trade, a fact Mr. Friedman deliberately fails to praise, or even mention, even though much of his book advocates this very policy.

In short, the first three quarters of this book are fantastic sources of information for both individuals and companies as they try to understand and find their places in the rapidly evolving global economy. As for the last quarter… unless you like reading politically motivated diatribes, you might want to check out what’s on TV instead.

Filed under Biography, Business, Consumer Behavior, economics, Marketing, Organizational Management, Personal Development, Social Media Tagged with , , , , , ,

Which Social Media Audiobook/Book is Right for You?

08/28/2010 Leave a Comment

Okay, as anyone who is trying to dig into social media can tell you there are enough books out there to make your eyes bleed… or if you’re an audiobook fiend like me there are enough social audiobooks out there to make your ears bleed. So how do you decide which to invest your time into reading/listening. Here are my recommendations based on what I’ve listened to so far-and believe me not all the ones I’ve listened to made this list.

Read more of this post

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The M-Factor – The last book I ever expected to like.

08/28/2010 Leave a Comment

(Originally published May 27, 2010 on the Creative Energy Blog)

I remember being at the University of Virginia as pundits and sociologists bantered about my generation. We were labeled, “Gen X Slackers.”

The irony of it was this Gen X Slacker was pulling three all-nighters in a row to keep up with course work in order to have some shot at standing out in a class of students who were doing the exact same thing. In fact, among commerce school students, my program, and architecture school students, my roommate’s program, the only toxic foreign substance you were likely to find in our blood streams was caffeine and larger amounts of it. Too impatient to wait for coffee to brew, No Doz, Vivarin, chocolate-covered coffee beans and Jolt Cola were our four major food groups.

Drinking? Dating? Partying? In classes where only a set amount of A’s and B’s were available and the entire class was competing for them, who had the time for distractions? And we were “Slackers?”

Today, the perception is much the same and just as flawed. True, Gen-X didn’t invent the Internet, but we did invent Google, Yahoo and MySpace. We’ve started businesses, bought homes and formed families. We are a large portion of the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we are “slackers?”

So it was with an extreme sense of skepticism that I added the M-Factor, How the Millennial Generation will Rock the Workplace to my audible.com basket. I did so because a client I’ve come to sincerely respect recommended it and I’ve come to trust his judgment. I’m glad I did.

Instead of the parade of stereotypes I was expecting, the M-Factor is a thoughtful discussion of differing paradigms. Forget labeling different generations one way or another. Here the generations are presented based on their predominant approach to situations. It’s not that one generation loses a game and another wins, rather it is about HOW different generations play the game.

And yes, I said, “generations.” Since the Millennials do not exist in a vacuum, the authors present them within the working world along side Traditionalists, Baby-Boomer and Gen-Xers. (No, I didn’t skip Gen-Y. By the definition of this book Gen Y and Millenials are one in the same.)

In doing so, the book does much more than the title promises. It becomes a thoughtful portrait of intergenerational interaction in the workplace. Thus, it has as much to say about the other generations as it does about Millennials.

It supports its tenets and substantiates its claims. I never expected to like this book, but I do. So if you’re dealing with the intergenerational challenges of managing, marketing or just getting along, the M-Factor may not be the cure, but it is a big step in the right direction.

Filed under Business, Marketing, Organizational Management, Personal Development, Social Media Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Abridged vs. Unabridged Audiobooks – In this Sandbox Forget Brevity, Attention Span is KING!

08/27/2010 Leave a Comment

Have you ever heard a colleague talking about a business author he saw being interviewed? You join in with information from two or three of that author’s books and another of your colleagues says dismissively, “Did you read those books or just listen to them?”

That’s the thing about audiobooks, people seem to equate the audiobook with having “seen the movie.” Sure some of the information might be there, but you didn’t really get all the information, right? Wrong!

When you listen to an unabridged book, you are getting the full scope, every single word that was in the print edition and even more. Often, there is commentary by the author after the end of the work. Also, with books like Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuck you get the Vaynerchuck reading his own words, hitting those words with the emphasis that he heard in his mind when he was composing the book and he even adds little asides.

Unabridged is the key. It’s the heart and the soul of the matter. It means you get EVERY SINGLE WORD of the text.

Abridgement is not your friend. It means that those who ask, “Did you actually read those books?,” actually have a leg on which to stand. Whether you’re listening to a business book, another form of nonfiction book or a fiction book, abridgments cheat you of the full information and experience.

“But, Bob, I don’t have the time. abridgments are shorter and brevity is king.” I’ll admit in other mediums, brevity is king, but when it comes to audiobooks brevity is the equivalent of those guys in your college dorm who run around cheating on tests and acting like jerks to girls, administration and faculty alike– so that people think everyone from your dorm is a jerk. In short, abridgments give audiobooks a bad name.

There are only four reasons to listen to an abridged audiobook, and only one of them is worth a damn.

  1. Unabridged books are more expensive. – This argument is the easiest to dismiss. If you’re serious about increasing your knowledge of business using audiobooks then get a subscription to a service like audible.com. They charge you a set amount a month and give you two credits a month you can use on any audiobook to cover the total price. And guess what, in 99.99% of cases both the abridged and unabridged versions only cost one credit. The cost argument is out of here!
  2. I don’t have the time to listen to the unabridged audiobooks. – If you don’t have the time to listen to unabridged audiobooks, than the question really becomes, “How much is the information worth to you?” Borrowing the earlier analogy basing your knowledge of a book or subject on an abridged audiobook is like going to see the movie or waiting for a TV special to tell you the “important parts.” Chances are you’re left with just the highlights and you miss out on the not-so-little things like the research, the background, the proof, the author’s insights and the proper application. If time really is that much of a concern than I suggest you skip the abridged audiobook all together and go directly to Soundview Executive Business Summaries. Here you’ll get your high-speed highlights, but don’t have any illusions of actually having read/listened to the book. (NO, I don’t work for or receive any kind of remuneration from Amazon, any of the authors or audiobook companies I mention in this blog… and I promise I’d mention it if I did. Thanks to WordPress.com limitations I can’t even do Adwords or Amazon Associates. Any ads you see here are 100% WordPress.com – 0% Bob.)
  3. But celebrities read the abridged versions. – Okay this argument applies more to fiction than business audiobooks, but for some reason celebrities occasionally like to dip their toe into the audiobook pool at the shallow end and read abridgments. Julia Roberts did it for the Nanny Diaries, Martin Sheen did it for Patriot Games, Liam Neeson did it for How the Irish Saved Civilization and Edward Hermann did it for Atlas Shrugged. Okay, I admit. It’s neat hearing a celebrity reading a book. Often, they bring a lot to the experience. The question here is do they bring enough to make up for what’s been taken away? If you liked to experience that celebrity’s work, go experience them more fully in one of their movies, TV shows or plays. Likewise, if you are interested in a book, experience it fully in its unabridged version.
  4. But it’s only available abridged. – This is the one argument that actually holds water. As much as I love traditional hardcopy books, you can’t read one while you drive, fold laundry, take a shower or do any of the myriad of things you can do as you listen to an audiobook. On this issue, we can only hope that more publishers and authors see the value of getting the full work that they have created with such care, effort and expense released in an unabridged audio version. I think if more authors realized that audio abridgments are comparable to their worst over zealous editing nightmares, the more they’d fight to make sure their unabridged efforts see the light of day in the audiobook world.

So in conclusions, let’s hear it for those of us with the attention spans to listen, enjoy, appreciate and absorb an unabridged audiobook. We’re a rare breed and if someone does ask you whether you, “read it or just listened to it,” simply reply, “Yes, every single word.”

Filed under Audiobook Industry, Business, fiction, Marketing, Personal Development, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Read this Book, I Dare You- A Review of Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business.

08/27/2010 Leave a Comment

(Originally Posted May 20, 2010 on the Creative Energy Blog)

Have you ever had the experience of seeing an absolutely brilliant movie trailer, only to be utterly disappointed by the movie itself? Well, that was more or less my experience with this book.

If you visit socialnomics.com, you’ll find a collection of brilliantly edited video trailers that do a fantastic job communicating the power and promise of social media. True, there are compelling powerful facts, but it’s the editing that brings these facts to light. If you want proof of the necessity of editing to effective communication, one only needs to read the book to see what happens without it.

For me, after having seen these brilliant trailers, I was overjoyed to find that this book was available on audible.com. I purchased it without hesitation. And so began a disappointing, meandering journey covering what could have been powerful and compelling material.

As I listened, it became a constant struggle to continue to do so. There were two reasons for this. First, apparently someone instructed Nick Sullivan, thenarrator of the piece, that nearly all human inflection should be stripped from the material, rendering his voice less compelling than the worst lecturer imaginable. (Which is a shame, because having listened to other books he’s read, he does have the range to be quite an interesting reader.) Second, the text, while containing compelling facts was poorly written and organized.

The book reads as if it began as a series of brilliant little speeches each too short to truly constitute a chapter on its own. So Mr. Qualman apparently made up for this with filler and fluff. For example, Qualman used the same anecdote over and over and over again, namely the triumph of Obama over the traditional Clinton political machine to win the Democratic nomination.

\At one point as I listened, I began to sincerely suspect that Qualman would probably have rather written an entire book on this one case. Unfortunately for Mr. Qualman, that book has already been written, it’s called Game Change and it’s an example of marvelous writing and, I suspect,editing.

As is my habit to do, I also bought a physical copy of the book as well. I normally do this because I want the ability to site favorite passages more easily and become even more familiar with the text. This time I did so to confirm to my unbelieving mind that such powerful material could be mired in nearly impenetrable, rambling text.

To anyone out there who is thinking, “well, Bob’s not being fair. This is a marketing book after all… how compelling can the material be?” In answer to this, I’d gleefully point you to Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, a compelling and highly informative read covering many of the same topics.

In all seriousness, Socialnomics reads as if it was never touched by an editor. In many ways it reminds me of some self-published pieces I’ve read with something brilliant to say and no idea of how to say it. True, at the end of each chapter there is a list of points covered, but these seem to be an after-the-fact attempt at organization—a bandaid when surgery was necessary.

Please don’t misunderstand me. This book has much to add to our understanding of social media, but rather than reading it may I suggest one of three courses of action.

- One – Assign someone to do it for you and come back with a two-page summary. Be kind to this person afterwards, because they may be angry.

- Two – Wait for the Cliff Notes or pinkmonkey.com version.

- Three – Brew yourself a large pot of coffee and sit down with this tome yourself. If you do this, make sure to have a much better written book nearby to remind yourself how the English language is supposed to work.

In closing, in the halls of Wiley & Sons Publisher there is probably an editor hiding under his desk curled in the fetal position muttering to himself saying, “Erik wouldn’t listen? Why wouldn’t he listen?”

To this editor, all I have to say is, “There, there… he should have.”

Filed under Business, Consumer Behavior, Marketing, Social Media Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

“Death in the Middle” is Alive and Well – Thoughts on the Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer

08/26/2010 Leave a Comment

(Originally posted 8/5/2010 on the Creative Energy Blog.)

Years ago, 2007 to be exact, I listened to and then read the book, Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer, by Michael J. Silverstein. In its pages was a brilliant analysis of numerous consumer trends. Perhaps the most insightful of observation of all was an overarching principle called, “Death in the Middle.”

This principle asserted that American consumers would continue to buy cheaper and cheaper goods, often opting for store brands rather than midpoint brand, so they could then afford high-ticket items or premium brands on which they would not compromise. For example, to see this principle at work look for the consumer who chooses store brand macaroni instead of Kraft, store brand steak sauce instead of A1 and store brand detergent rather than Tide, yet who still insists on premium chocolate, gourmet mustard and a new pair of Nikes every year.

Then the economy went into the tank and I have to admit I figured so did the applicably of much of the book. I figured that sure customers would start choosing lower end store brands, but the high-end part of the scenario would not continue. Hence, mid point brands would enjoy a stay of execution. I could not have been more wrong.

In the last 24 hours alone, I’ve seen multiple clear demonstrations of this principle at work. Just heading to the local Wal-Mart is an object lesson. Widened aisle and reorganized shelves thinly hide the fact that the selection of brands is being gradually reduced to make way for Great Value store brand offerings. One evidence of this initiative was the Wal-Mart’s launch in March of last year of more than 80 new product lines. (For more information on this, here is Wal-Mart’s press release on the subject.)

Yet even as more and more Americans choose store brand items to save money, they buy iPhones and iPads in numbers so large that figures defy even the most optimistic sales forecasts according to MarketWatch.

In addition to this, according to the August 4, 2010 issue of the Wall Street Journal, premiums brands like Ralph Lauren are enjoying similar sales surges, as well as increased American market share. One has to wonder how much of this share gain once firmly belonged to midpoint competitors.

All of this is further confirmed by the cover article of July 29, 2010 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, “The New Abnormal.” Although, the article never sites the Treasure Hunt, the article’s author seems content to document the seemingly contradictory behaviors for consumers both cutting back in some areas to splurge in others.

Far from killing the Death-in-the-Middle trend, the current recession has accelerated the trend. The result is a situation where the brand managers of mid-point brands who once may have relied upon consumer habits and expected loyalty need to grab a copy of the Treasure Hunt as soon as possible. In short, it’s time to run for the high ground on quality or the low ground on price, but staying in the middle will only succeed in putting your brand 6 feet under the ground.

Filed under Business, Consumer Behavior, Marketing Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Badges? Badges? Audible.com Badges? So that’s what they mean!

08/23/2010 58 Comments

Okay, there seems to be some confusion on what do these badges mean. So here’s what I know so far, based on first hand experience.
First, all of these badges have at least three levels, silver, gold and diamond, based on your level in a particular category.
Weekend Warrior is for listening for 24 hours over a weekend. I don’t know how I qualified for this, because I listened alot, but I doubt anywhere near 24 hours.
Social Butterfly is if you take up the offer to spread the word about your audible badges on Twitter and Facebook.
Repeat Listener is fairly self-explanatory. If you’ve listened to something all the way through more than once, you’ve got it.
All Nighter is for listening at least 8 hours at night.
Undecider is for listening to parts of three or more programs in quick succession.
Flash 80 you earn by checking your statistics screen obsessively. Apparently, it’s named after some football player who was obsessed with his performance statistics.
High Noon is earned by listening for an hour or more around the lunch hour.
The Stacks is achieved by having an excessive number of audiobooks in your audible.com library.

This leaves the Stenographer, Audible Obsessed, Binge Listener, 7-Day Stretch, Procrastinator and Mount Everest as still unknown frontiers… at least for now.

All in all, I still have to take my hat off to the shear marketing genius of the whole badges system. That so many intelligent people are so interested in a system of awards with no monetary or social value offers a ripe frontier for psychologists and marketers alike.

Filed under Consumer Behavior, Social Media Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Confessions of an Economic Hitman and other fiction.

08/23/2010 Leave a Comment

Okay, before I start this review, I want to make two things very clear. First, whenever possible I purchase the unabridged version of books. Hence, if I attack a work for an astonishing lack of proof, it’s not because I was listening to an abridged version, it’s because the proof is NOT THERE!

Second, I saw this blog as a place for more-or-less exclusively books I consider nonfiction, with only the rarest of exceptions. This is one of those exceptions.  The reason… the Confessions of an Economic Hitman still rears its head in otherwise intelligent conversation and for some reason it still sits in the NONFICTION section of bookstores and libraries.

Personally, after reading/listening to this book with its insinuations, fanciful events and lack of any convincing amount of proof, I don’t see how anyone can take it seriously. This would be the lack of proof I mentioned before. No, I didn’t miss the facts that would have lent believability to these claims because of listening to an abridgment. Much to my regret, I listened to EVERY WORD of the UNABRIDGED reading of this book… time that I will never get back.

I am not the only one with such a low opinion of the validity of this work. Sebastian Mallaby of the Washington Post and Naill Ferguson, noted economic historian and author of the Ascent of Money, have taken turns pointing out the weaknesses, inaccuracies and conjecture of this book.

However, if you really want to discredit this book, one only needs to look at other books John Perkins has written, namely Psychonavigation: Techniques for Travelling Beyond Time or Shapeshifting: Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation. It’s funny that he never discusses these books when on NPR. Somehow talking about how to change yourself into a tree frog, move through time and be one with nature probably would not do much for the credibility of his global, economic conspiracy theory.

When viewed in this context, it seems clear that John Perkins is little more than a Carlos Castenada wanna be with delusions of killing Adams Smith and capitalism in general. In short, if you want conspiracy theory fiction sprinkled with things vaguely resembling facts, go read Dan Brown. If you want nonfiction insight into the international economic situation and America’s role in it, go read The World is Flat. And if you want something useful to do with this book, well chances are there’s a short table leg it might just fit under perfectly.

Filed under Business, economics, fiction Tagged with , , , , ,

Badges! Badges! I miss my stinking audible.com badges.

08/21/2010 Leave a Comment

Okay, years ago when visiting my brother we were talking about the soccer programs in which my twin nieces participated. I asked who had won the game earlier that day. My brother’s response was, “They’re six. We don’t keep score-Eight to four.”

Without missing a beat, my brother demonstrated that all too human need for recognition, accomplishment and comparison…because even when it doesn’t matter it still matters. It’s an instinct that is very much apparent in the number of web sites that are giving badges as symbols of participation, websites like audible.com.

About, a month or so ago, audible.com rolled out its iPod Touch app. It’s pretty good all-in-all. It makes it easier to download anything from your audible library directly to your iPod Touch or iPhone. It provides updates about the latest books coming. As I said before, it’s a pretty great little app. You can even play audible.com books already in your iPod’s archive Not bad.

Of course, one of its nifty new features is badges based on statistics and usage. Yes, audible.com has joined the badge bandwagon. In fact, by making a point to play all my audiobooks through the audible.com app rather than through the Music app, I got credit for listening to those too. Being as audiobook obsessed as I am, it didn’t take me long to rack up 8 of the 15 badges.

Then, not related to this app, my iPod Touch started having a performance problem. The solution was to do a restore, after which everything was right as rain… that is almost everything. You guessed it all my badges were gone.

I contacted audible and they confirmed, that a restore would wipe those hard earned badges away. Oh well. Sure I still use the app, but somehow catching up lacks the thrill of racking up my badges the first time. So I’m just kind of left to wonder, what is it about badges, real or virtual that makes them valuable a part of the experience?

The truth is, I know that this disenchantment will sooner or later expire and my normal audible.com usage will restore these badges overtime. Yet, I still have to be in awe of the branding brilliance of badges in general. At no real cost to the service provider they can incentivize their user-base, making that user group all the more valuable to both the service provider and those that might want to market to that community.

So here’s to foursquare, audible.com and all those other badge-issuing geniuses. Thus, to disagree with the King, perhaps the world’s best known badge collector, the power isn’t in having the badges… it is in how you hand them out!

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