January | 2015 | Intentional

Ed Catmull quote on the difference between art and craft

Our Craft is the work we do that’s expected of us. Art is using our Craft in unexpected ways. Ed Catmull, founder of Pixar

This we believe

The Apostle's Creed has been a statement of beliefs used by the Catholic Church to rally and unite believers for centuries. Today, your current and potential consumers deeply believe (as distinct from 'like') all sorts of things about themselves - and will subconsciously ...

Fences: Triple J vs Taylor Swift

Fences define boundaries which send two messages: To strangers: "You're not welcome past this line. You stay out there." To family, friends and guests: "You have the privilege of access - unlike the masses" By proudly banning Taylor Swift from its traditional Australia Day Hottest 100, radio station Triple J was absolutely able to ...

Death by a thousand sales

If the only way to draw people to your brand is to constantly be on sale - you eventually won't have a brand. If you only ever talk to us about your daily, weekly or even monthly sales, eventually we will tune out, unsubscribe or unfollow you (assuming the algorithms haven't already done this for us). As brand trust is eroded over time, it gets harder and more expensive to reach fewer and fewer fans - the fatal downward marketing spiral.

Where are we going?

Dear Brand, Why am I following you? Where are you taking me? Who am I becoming as a result of following you? Regards, Your Fan/Follower/Liker/Subscriber/Customer

George Bernard Shaw quote on creativity

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. – George Bernard Shaw

Opportunities with Commodities

What is considered a commodity by the Industrial Age majority today, will become a target for Connection Economy disruptors tomorrow. Just ask Xero, Uber, AirBnB (among others)…

Generosity 2.0

For brands trading in physical goods, the idea of giving away something digital still feels very much like giving away something physical. We still count the cost of our time to create this thing, and our time is valuable, so when we give it away, we feel the love, sweat and tears we put into it. But this feeling is actually a carryover from an Industrial Age mindset.

Gaming the system

My first paid online marketing role was as a blogger tasked with learning Search Engine Optimisation, SEO. Almost 10 years ago now, this was a relatively simple task as there were several niches with no competition and the Google Search algorithm was relatively simple.

Famous for 15 People

In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes - Andy Warhol, 1968

Andy Warhol was partly right and partly wrong. Today it is possible for anyone (or any brand) to be famous, but almost impossible to be world famous.

Quote on ‘Going through the motions’

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”

You only get one shot… is wrong

"You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo" - Lose Yourself, Eminem

Risking all or nothing on one shot makes for a great Eminem song and climax in a movie... but is based on zero sum scarcity.

Per Mission

Seth Godin prophesied 10 years ahead of his time, that in the future brands will need to earn the right to speak to their audience. He famously called this concept Permission Marketing. This prophecy has well and truly come to pass and most brands online have come to terms with this.

The rising importance of the Curator

What if you're not an artist? If we look to the art world there is another extremely important role that must be fulfilled (and not necessarily by an artist): That of Curator.

The Peter Principle and Creatives

The Peter Principle states that within any company, managers are promoted to their level of incompetence. This makes perfect sense - the gifts and talents that get someone noticed as a technician aren't necessarily the same gifts and talents needed at an Executive Management level. But this brings up something inherently broken in the system.

Quote on the purpose for the Web

“The highest and best use of the Web is to bring relationship to Art” Intentional

McDonalds quote on marketing today

The way we look at the business now is very much around: How do we stop selling to our customers and how do we start serving? Technology has enabled people today to expect a much closer relationship. – Mark Lollbak, McDonalds CMO, Australia

Zero Sum is Dead

For so long, we have been trained in Zero Sum Games - for someone to win, someone else must lose. The Olympics, the Oscars & Grammies, board games, reality TV shows, honour rolls at schools etc are all Zero Sum Games. The Zero Sum Game is based on scarcity - there is only a limited amount of the prize so only one player can walk away with it. This is classic Industrial Age thinking.

The myth of Passive Income

When I ask aspiring entrepreneurs what the goal for their business is, an answer that often comes up is: "passive income" (ie. earning recurring income so you don't have to work) . Passive income is not a goal - its a fruit. If you want to earn passive income, the goal, then is to deliver passive value.

What if the technicals are a given?

If you were to strip away all the technicals you currently enjoy that provide your competitive advantage - what's left? Consider the once quite profitable wedding photography market. Many moons ago if you were one of the few who owned an expensive SLR film camera and understood all its manual settings, you would have had 'clear air' in this market and charged handsomely. Today that is not enough - the wedding market is now in a race to the bottom.

The Relationship Bank Account

Social Media works only because of one thing: Relationships. The relationship between you and your audience. Relationships between your audience and each other.

Stefan Sagmeister quote on being unreasonable

“The line where others say it can’t be done, is when we say go for it” – Stefan Sagmeister

15 To-Do’s in ’15

As we launch into the New Year, here are 15 things to do, in no particular order, to bring out your best creativity in marketing in 2015. 1. Follow Seth Godin is the marketer's marketer - he is the one every marketer in the world is subscribed to (or should be). Out of the hundreds of blogs I've subscribed to over the years, his blog is the only one I make sure I read daily.

This Is Your Year

You are imaginative. You are creative. You are an artist.

Intentional

Purpose Per Click