The Flurry Blog

Be yourself, be remarkable, be unique. This past week I had the chance to meet a few people from Keen Footwear. Keen’s CEO gave the keynote at the Willamette Innovators Night (WIN) 2009 and did a great skit.  The main point of James Curleigh’s skit was to be an innovator…not an imitator.  I was first introduced to the company by a friend who had a great customer service experience. I am now a big believer in Keen and a recent convert after finding their shoes were the only ones that did not give me pain while I am recovering from foot surgery.  To say the least, they have left an impression on me.  When I came home that night from WIN 09, I posted a few things online about my experience. As I usually do, I look for  a company’s or individual’s twitter account to either engage them in conversation or reference to them in a post on twitter.  It took a bit of digging to find Keen on twitter since there was no link on their home page or blog.  This surprised me at first but, then again, Keen does not do things like anyone else.  I finally did find Keen.  They had one post and a little over 200 followers*.  Their single post is a request for feedback, a great start; “heard a lot about this twitter phenomena – want to know what the “tweeple” want us to tweet. Ideas and suggestions are very welcome”.  In true form they are asking their followers what to do next. So here is my suggestion. Don’t copy anyone.  I hear this all the time “I am on twitter now what”?  I tell people, “be yourself”. I love the movie Hitch. In it Will Smith plays a relationship/dating coach. He guides men through the dangerous world of relationships with women.  His tried and true method has been to drive out the individual and get them to conform to a few key principle that will land them the girl. Like any good PR pro, he teaches them to pose. What he eventually realizes is that true happiness comes when a woman falls in love with a man for who he really is (if he is genuine, kind and honest).  The same works for businesses and personal brands.  Be who you are and no one else (even if it is a bit ugly at times).  Anything else is posing.  A company like Keen has an amazing product to stand on (pun intended) and a great following to go with it.  All they really need to do is find that tribe and join in on the conversation that is already happening.  And like anyone, they are finding ways to reach out to their community with true innovation.

Don’t be mistaken.  While Keen has obvious fans, so do you. I just saw someone comment tonight on Facebook that they have no fans.  I beg to differ.  It might take some digging (not much on Keen’s part) but everyone, if they have a web presence, has some following . When it comes to finding great followers, you are your best researcher .  The ones that will shout the loudest will say the most via the web. We have the greatest search engines at our fingertips.  I look forward to Keen’s next move.

*Looking further I found Keen’s active twitter account @Keen_Shoes via Keen founder @MartinKeen

And a quick side note to Keen – don’t be like everyone else and hire a marketer with 10 years of traditional marketing experience…which would likely result in you doing exactly what everyone else is doing.  Invest in someone that will encourage and guide you in just being you (even if that results in still doing the “Q-tip”), help build on your incredible community, and encourages you to invest in continuing the tradition of developing remarkably innovative products.

Want to know more?

Seth Godin’s Tribes and Purple Cow
Using a social media framework to grow your tribe
Go watch Hitch

*Looking further I found  Keen’s active twitter account @Keen_Shoes via Keen founder @MartinKeen

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I found this video via @jdale and @tshuttleworth and I had to share it with you.  I have had several people this week ask me if Social Media is a fad.  Well my simple answer is no.  In fact I agree with the statement in the video that “it is the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution”.  It is changing our habits, how we digest media, how we connect and engage with people and our description of community.  Socialnomics09 did a great job pulling together my favorite quotes and statistics. Enjoy. I would love to hear your comments.

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We often need to break from tradition in order to make a change. This is especially true in established organizations.  Programs in a business or organization can become encumbered with the expectation of mediocrity, regardless of how hard they try to succeed.   Being a heretic can disrupt this pattern, especially if the heretic’s ideas result in a changed outcome.

In 1992 I served as the events chair for Oregon State Universities Memorial Union Program Council (MUPC), charged with bringing entertainment to the student body.  The organization had a long history of draining the universities funds.  A poorly planned event a few years before had left the administration having to pay Jay Leno for a costly failed event.  His show had been scheduled on a Monday night during midterms.  Each concurrent event was saddled with the task of adding its contribution to paying the debt.

So now it was my turn to bring a musical concert to OSU.  I was told to book someone affordable (under 5K).  The administration was already braced to lose money on the concert, but they wanted to keep the losses low.  As I looked through the stacks of bands that promoters were offering me for that price, it quickly became apparent that there was no way I could book a band that would both satisfy the students desire for good music and keep within the administration’s budget.  It seemed hopelessly set up for failure.

That evening I was listening to music with my roommates.  One of our favorite alternative bands was The Violent Femmes.  My friend Doug suggested that I book the femmes!  At first I laughed.  I knew they were nowhere close to being within my budget.  I also knew the administration would frown on having a band named “The Violent Femmes” play on campus.

As I thought about it more, the rebel in me awoke.  Why not?  I knew I could fill any venue on campus.  Just about any social group I could think of liked the femmes. You couldn’t attend a party without one of their hits, Blister in the Sun  pumping out of the speakers at least once.

I called their promoter the next morning.  I was shocked to find out that it would take over 10k to book them.  There was no way I could get that much out of the university.  Still I could not resist.  I wanted to buck the system and take a risk.  I knew it could work.  I told the agent I would call her back.  How was I going to approach the school with this crazy idea?

To my surprise, after a bit of nervous assurance from me, the administration agreed to front the cash, and I booked the band.  The event turned out to be very successful.  The fans were pleased, and the school made money on an event for the first time in years.  I could have booked a mediocre band with no risk.  Low ticket price meant minimal  loss would  incur.  What’s the fun in that though? Being a heretic can pay off.  Try it on and see what happens.

I would love to hear your heretic stories.

McAlexander Fieldhouse hosted a full house for the Femmes

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Posted via web from johnbergquist’s posterous

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Too often marketers focus on getting attention.  We have all seen the super bowl adds, and who doesn’t enjoy watching them.  But are they really getting the attention that counts?  Are they attracting new followers?

Seth Godin said recently in his blog that “viral marketing is an idea that spreads–and an idea that while it is spreading actually helps market your business or cause.” It is not really successful marketing when it gains popularity by being cute, clever or funny alone. Here is an example. I recently watched the now famous “dog house campaign video” from JCPenneys. It is funny, well scripted and shot.  But what story are they trying to tell?  Maybe it did increase their sales. JCPenny reported that December store sales only decreased 6.8 percent as reported by their corporate office. They attribute the companies better sales during the holidays compared to their competitors, to “aggressive promotional pricing action”. There is no mention of the million and counting hits the doghouse video has received on YouTube. Even though the approach is different from the disruptive television or print ads so commonly used by large retail stores, it still shows that JCPenny is missing the mark on viral marketing. I believe they have a remarkable brand that does not need gimmicks like Facebook Connect applications (an application that allows women to put their male friends in the doghouse for poorly chosen gifts for their women).  For years I have heard about their customer service and quality guarantee. I once bought a Citizen diving watch from their jewelry department. For a decade I was able to return to the department and have the batteries replaced by Citizen while the shipping was covered by JCPenneys. It was enough to make me consider them whenever I thought about major purchases. While my mother worked as a floor salesperson she prided herself on that kind of customer service. These qualities alone are enough to create honest and transparent marketing for the company. I can think of many promotional pieces they could have spent money on instead of a video that will be remembered for ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi’s cleverness (don’t get me wrong here, they delivered an excellent conventional advertisement for the company). Obviously it made the masses laugh, but did it move them to make a choice for JCPenny?

To be entertained go here. JCPenney spent incredible amounts of money to make it, and you get to see it for…. free.

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Today was a great day.  For about a month I have been working hard to honestly promote something I believe in, Soma Games.  The best stories, and the ones we should be selling, are the great ones and Chris of Soma has one. Soma Games wants to change how Christians involved in the gaming industry are perceived by the world.  Big task huh?  I believe they have a good chance.  Right off when you meet Chis Skaggs you know he is the real deal.  His story and what he has to say about Soma are truly authentic. Rather than spoil it all, I will let my friend Chris tell the rest.  Enjoy!

See more great Startup interviews at startupslive.tv. or startuplucky.com

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