Yet, what do most owners and CEOs (and their companies) focus their marketing (and strategy) on? Exactly! Being better than their competitors. “Our technology is 10% faster than theirs.” “We have the best pizza in town.” “Our bank has the best customer service in our city.” “Our music rocks more than your church’s music.” “Our paper towels are the better picker uppers.” Etc. Etc. Etc. And yawn, yawn, yawn.

I don’t know if you read “Blue Ocean Strategy” or not, but the metaphor that Kim and Mauborgne laid out in that book is perfect for this point. Their main idea was/is that most companies attempt to compete in a red ocean (an ocean filled with competitors where each is extracting blood from the other) which leads to commoditization and low margins/profits. Instead, they argue, you want to create a blue ocean where you’re the only one who does what you do–which also leads to uniqueness and higher margins/profits.

In essence, it’s the same point I’m making here about marketing (and strategy). Whenever you’re focusing your attention on being better than someone else, you’ve automatically defaulted to a red ocean marketing strategy. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that strategy. Being able to claim that your product or service is better by some quantifiable measure (Zyrtex works two hours faster than Claritin) is not a terrible marketing strategy. But it doesn’t get the same attraction and attention that something new does (a la Apple).

Several years ago, Al Ries and Jack Trout, in their book on the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing brought this to the forefront, when they said,

“Everyone is interested in what‘s new. Few people are interested in what‘s better.” — Al Ries and Jack Trout

I can’t say it any better. In fact, you may want to write that statement on a wall somewhere (like in your conference room). Most marketing campaigns and strategy sessions are focused on being “better,” which isn’t bad–it’s just not great. What you want to focus on is “new, because ”everyone“ pays attention to the ”new“ and ”different“ or ”unique“ thing. Better just gets lost.

So, as you take a look at your company’s products and services, what can you add or change to create something ”new“ and ”different“ this year? What can you do to set your company apart from all the others in your market space? What could possibly create a blue ocean moment for you?

Once you identify that, make sure you make that the focus of your marketing (and strategy). Why? Because, ”Everyone is interested in what’s new. Few people are interested in what’s better.“

To your accelerated success!

P.S. Twenty minutes after (originally) posting this, I received an email from Apple with the following image at the top. Notice the key word.

For example, last evening I was setting up a new DVD player for our downstairs TV (the old one had broken) when I noticed the following words on the back of the DVD remote. If you can’t read the words clearly in the picture, they say, “Caution: Replace with fresh batteries of the same kind, observing polarity.”

Now, think about that for a moment. You’ve probably replaced a few batteries in a few different remotes over the course of your lifetime. Is it really that difficult to figure out which end of a battery goes in which direction? Furthermore, even if you are having a bad day and you can’t remember which end goes in which direction, the good news is that virtually every manufacturer gives you a little picture (in the device) of a battery which clearly shows which end goes in which direction.

So, let me ask the most obvious question that someone should have asked (and caught). “If someone can’t figure out how to follow a picture in the device of which direction a battery should be placed . . . do we really think that person would have a clue what the word ‘Polarity,’ is?”

“Ah yes, I was stumped by the diagram of the battery in the remote. But now that they told me to observe the polarity, I’ve figured it out!” I laughed so hard when I saw this.

But lest we get too hard on Panasonic, we all do the same thing. I don’t know any business that hasn’t sent out a message without having a Panasonic remote moment. We think customers want one thing (what we’re offering), but what they really want is another thing (a specific result). Or we’ll use language that we think “everyone knows.” But they don’t.

So, how can you avoid this Panasonic Remote moment? By asking someone outside of your area (or department or company) to read your copy (website, letter, direct mail piece, white paper, blog post, company email, manual, etc.) to give you some feedback. Frequently, they’ll find mistakes you didn’t see. They’ll tighten up your prose (i.e. make your argument more succinct and compelling). And they’ll ask questions you didn’t think of because what seemed so obvious to you, didn’t to them.

So, who do you know whom you can ask to read your copy . . . and trust that they’ll give you honest feedback? As soon as you think of a name, contact them ASAP. You need them more than you can imagine!

To your accelerated success!

P.S. Don’t just look for people who will affirm you and say, “Good job! Run with it!” You want people who will give you real feedback–that is, people who will challenge you, your thinking, and your writing–and who won’t be afraid to say to you, “That’s stupid!” Don’t you wish Panasonic had someone like that?

Well, this morning I ran into a couple of different stupid systems. The first one was/is a simple, but silly one. Yesterday, we had a major rain and lighting storm here in the DC area and the only thing affected in our home was the router we use with Verizon FiOS. I used the router before the storm and all was fine. But after the lightning strike near our home, it didn’t work. After waiting a half hour and then doing everything I knew I’d be asked to do, the customer support person (after another half hour) agreed and said he’d send out a replacement router that should be to me today. Fine.

So, what do you think happened this morning? Exactly! I got an automated voice message telling me that I can track my package by going to www.ups.com. HELLO! If I could go to www.ups.com I wouldn’t need a new router!!!  Stupid system (Note: I do have an iPhone so I could track it that way but the system–on their end–doesn’t know that. So the PROGRAMMED message on their end should have first of all told me when the package was sent and when it should be arriving and then should have said, “And if you have an alternative way of tracking packages online, you may do so by going to www.ups.com and entering the following tracking code).

In addition, the auto attendant quickly gave me a long string of 18 numbers and letters to use to track the package–with no option of repeating the numbers. HELLO! Do they really expect that everyone who answers their phone does so next to a pad of paper with a pen that actually works? Or do they really believe that everyone who writes down 18 numbers and letters, gets them correct the first time they hear them? Buzz! Stupid system.

But the funnier one to me was from Citigroup. Citi called because they thought we had a fraudulent charge made on our card with them last evening (good system). When I confirmed the charge, the fraud specialist asked if I had any other questions, which I did. So I said, “Yes, it’s not a big deal, but I’ve wondered for awhile why Citi raised my interest rate last year. If you look at my account you’ll see I pay off my bill every month so it’s not a big deal, but as a good customer, I thought it was pretty ridiculous to raise my interest rate to 23.9% when I always pay my bills on time.” He said, “Great question. Let me transfer you to customer service.”

When I got on with phone with customer service, it all went downhill. When I asked him my interest rate question he said, “Let me look into that.” When I said, “Well, since I get 7-10 credit card offers a week and everyone–including you at Citi–offers me between 9.99% and 13.24%, it seems that you ought to be able to reduce my rate.” “Yes, Mr. Johnson.” “Okay, so what does that mean?” “We’ll take care of you.” “What does that mean?” “Just trust that we’ll take care of you.” “Okay, but what does that mean….” He said, “Just call us back and we’ll make an adjustment in your rate.”  So, why do I have to call back? Can’t we do that now?” Yada yada yada. Stupid system.

I then went on and said, “Okay, I’m looking at an offer from Citi, your company, right now. You just sent me an offer that if I open up a Citi Diamond Preferred Rewards Card (the same one I currently have) you will give me a $50 gift card, 2 Thank You Points for every $1 I spend for the next twelve months, 0% interest on transfers in, 0% APR on new purchases until 2/11 and a 9.9% APR today. In other words, if I stay faithful I get nothing. But if I open up a new card with Citi (the exact same card that I already have with you) I get all this.” Yes.” “So, why should I remain loyal?” Stupid system.

Now, my point is not to beat up on Verizon and Citi, because, as I said at the beginning, we all have stupid systems. Instead, my point is to remind you (and me) that we all have them. And while neither of these is enough to cause me to leave either company (hey, they just happened in the last hour or so), there are plenty of stupid systems that do cause customers to leave–and that’s both a tragedy and a fiscal nightmare.

In light of that, as you look at your own company, where are your stupid systems? What systems do you have in place that customers don’t like? Or what systems do they complain about that you haven’t fixed? Remember, what you think is irrelevant. It’s all about what customers think.

So, what stupid systems do you need to change?

To your accelerated success!

P.S. This is a great exercise to do with your staff–and with your customers.

I remember, shortly after my board coup several years ago, the movie “Rocky Balboa” came out and in the middle of the movie, Rocky made the following comment to his son,

“It ain’t about how hard you’re hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward–that’s how winning is done!”

I immediately put that quote up on my credenza and still look at it to this day. To me, that’s the power of a great quote. In just a few words, it can say so much.

In light of that, over the July 4th weekend, I decided to create my own favorite quote site. As a consultant and professional speaker, I’m regularly on the look out for great quotes. So, rather than horde them for myself, in the spirit of Tom Peters (when you go to the site, you’ll understand that comment), I’ve decided to make them available to everyone.

So, rather than bore you with more content, let me encourage you to go to the site and read some great inspirational business-oriented quotes. I think you’ll enjoy them! Oh, and the URL is pretty easy to remember

http://www.brucequotes.com

Note: I just created the site Saturday evening so some of the topics only have a few quotes, while others have quite a few. But over time, the approximately 400 quotes will grow. The site is still under 48 hours old. Just bookmark it and return to it whenever you either need some inspiration or you’re putting together a talk or training session and need the perfect quote to make the perfect point.

To your accelerated success!

http://www.brucequotes.com

Now, if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I don’t write about technology, I write about what leads to growth. And my audience isn’t techies, it’s owners and CEO’s (or other execs at the top). So, as I listened to Steve’s responses to the questions of Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the All Things Digital (D8) Conference, my ears were tuned into Jobs’ comments related to strategy and leadership, marketing and R&D. And the following would be, IMHO, the most important things he said on that front.

Note: Thanks to Macrumors and Engadget for tracking the conversation.

1. Never Underestimate the Power of Vision.

- On his return to Apple in the ’90s: “Apple was about 90 days from going bankrupt. It was much worse than I thought back then. I expected all the good people had left, but I found many of them still there, and I asked them, “Why are you still here?” They said it was because they believed in Apple.”

In other words, Steve and crew had done such a great job of establishing the culture and vision of Apple, that even when things were going bad under different leadership, great people stayed on. As I say over and over again, you can’t cast vision too much.

2. It’s Okay to Zig When Everyone Else Is Zagging

- On the Adobe Flash controversy: “Apple doesn’t have the resources others have, and we have to choose which horses to ride. We try to ride those that are on the way up. If you choose wisely, you save yourself an enormous amount of work.”

As proof of this strategy, Steve pointed to Apple’s moves over the years (ahead of almost everyone else) to moving to 3.5-inch floppies, to discontinuing floppy drives, to removing serial and parallel ports, to adopting USB, to the current removal of even an optical drive in the MacBook Air. In “typical Jobsian” fashion, Steve concluded by saying, “Sometimes people call us crazy.”

In other words, just because ”everyone“ has something or does something in a certain way, doesn’t mean you have to do it that way. All trailblazers at some point realize that have to break with what ”everyone“ is doing.

3. Be Clear on What Drives Your Company–And Stick With It

- On the future of Apple and “platform wars” with Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc.: “I don’t see it. We never saw ourselves in a platform war with MSFT, and maybe that’s why we lost. We think about the competition, but we’re focused on building a better product.”

Steve is clear on what drives Apple–they’re a product-driven company. They’re not a services-driven company or a knowledge-driven company or a market-driven company etc. They are a product-driven company. When they lost sight of that in the late 80’s and 90’s, they got into trouble. Once they got clear on that again (under Jobs), everything began to change.

4. What You Think Has to Be in a Product/Service Doesn’t

- On tablets: “We did something similar to what we did with the iPhone. We started from scratch and threw out the existing paradigm of handwriting recognition.”

In other words, sometimes, you have to start by deconstructing what you believe to be true. In other words, you have to start from scratch, with a blank slate, and question every part or thing you want to put in to it.

5. Be Willing to Change Your Plans in Response to New Information

At one point, Steve acknowledged that the tablet project (what’s now the iPad) actually came before phone, but realized that phone was more important.

In other words, strategic plans need to be flexible. I’m shocked at how many leaders stick by a plan long after the market is telling them something different. I’m a strategy consultant, and I’m forever reminding leaders that the plan we created last year needs to change as we go through this year. Things change, and what seemed right in October last year, may not be what’s best in June of this year.

6. Stick to Your Values Even When It’s Not Politically In Your Favor

Regarding rejected political cartoon content, Jobs said, “We had a rule that said you can’t defame people. By definition, they defame people.”

Similar to Google’s, ”Do no evil,“ creed, great leaders stick to their values even when it’s not convenient. To me, that’s the real test of a value. For example, are you willing to fire your best producing employee because they’ve broken (and usually consistently broken) a core value? If not, then it’s either not a core value or you’re not doing your job as the leader.

7. Price Aggressively and Go For Volume

During his comments on newspapers, Jobs noted that iPad opens up a way to offer much more than print or static webpages. But he also noted that newspapers should charge less for the online content than their print content … “The biggest lesson Apple has learned is price it aggressively and go for volume.”

So, which of Steve’s lessons do you need to take to heart and apply in your business? Playing out of Jobs’ playbook isn’t a bad strategy to start with. It’s clearly worked for him :-)

To your accelerated success!

Most leaders underestimate the power of a makeover–and the speed at which they ought to be undertaken these days. It’s not unusual for someone to be surfing the web these days and think, “Wow! That site looks so … 2009,” and we’re only four months into 2010 (as of the writing of this post).

Next week (starting April 26th) marks the public makeover of a business icon–BusinessWeek (which was bought by Bloomberg back on December 1, 2009). They’ve even created a section on their website describing all the changes.

http://inside.businessweek.com/

Now, I haven’t seen the new remade version, but I do love what they’ve done to prep readers about the makeover. So, here are four lessons worth learning from them about creating a makeover.

1. Teaser campaigns still work. The Bloomberg team has done a great job of promoting the change. If you’re a reader of BusinessWeek, then you know they’ve been talking about “change is coming,” for awhile. And while it’s nothing more than an old school teaser campaign–it’s working. I’ve been reading BusinessWeek for years–and I haven’t been this interested/excited in years.

2. Use video to tell the story of the change. If you go to their website, you’ll see a series of videos from the editor describing the change. Vision casting is usually done best with video (actually it’s best done live, but that’s not an option here). So having Josh Tyrangiel share his vision that, “We take people on journeys … and introduce them to concepts and people that will impact their lives for years, even decades …” was the right decision.

3. Use powerful, short image building phrases to describe the changes. Rather than impress us with their vast vocabulary skills, the design team has done a great job of picking up key phrases we can all understand immediately.

* Reinvented. Redesigned. Reimagined (the tagline for the change)
* More Clarity. More Energy. More Impact (each with four short sub-points defining the changes)

4. Remember that “Look and Feel”/Design matters. While story will always be first and foremost (and should be for a magazine), the Bloomberg team understands that the look and feel of a site or magazine (or whatever you’re producing for the public) does matter. The vast majority of people bring their eyes with them. And whether they want to admit it or not, within seconds, they’ve “judged the book by its cover.” Within seconds they’ve either decided, “culture current” or “old school,” or …

So, as you look at what you and your company are producing and offering, are you in need of a makeover? Is your website or are your other marketing materials in need of a makeover? Is your business model in need of a makeover?

If so, then you may want to take a page from the Bloomberg BusinessWeek playbook in order to make sure that your makeover works for you and your purposes.

To your accelerated success!

P.S. When was the last time your website had a new design. If it’s been more than 12 months, chances are it’s time for a face lift. One of the reasons I’m such a huge fan of WordPress (besides the fact it’s free and that it’s easy to edit) is that WordPress separates out the content and the theme/skin/template. So with one click of a button, you can change the whole “look and feel” of a site without having to change any of the content. In around five seconds you can have a whole new look. Then, you can update the content and layout when you have time.

While watching Steve introduce the iPad last week in real-time on Gizmodo (hats off to B. Lam and Jason Chen at Gizmodo who were doing photo and text blogging during the presentation–I was majorly impressed), I thought that I’d share some of their images of Steve’s slides so you could see how a master does his “PowerPoint.” So, here we go.

Here’s one of Steve’s first slides. Notice the simplicity of the design. A short quote in large enough type to read, and a simple image to further drive home the point. Also notice the cool reflection of the image.

As Steve started to talk about mobile platforms he posed a question, “Is there space for a device between a cell phone and a lap top?” Here’s how he represented that.

I love this next slide for it’s simplicity and color popping. No fancy charts. Just one image and one number–that’s all that matters!

Changing gears, when Steve wanted to talk about environmental friendliness, he took and created a “report card” check list that didn’t just look like another table. You get the point. Nothing confusing here.

Here’s another slide where Steve’s team had to convey a list of features (in this case, iWork software for the iPad). Notice the simplicity of the image and six statements. Once again, you get the point.

When Steve started talking about price, he started with one slide with just one number on it. Unfortunately, slide images don’t do justice to the animation Steve and his team used. The number actually dropped from the top and kicked up some dust until it settled with the following clear slide. It really was one of those awe moments when you could hear people’s shock and awe.

Probably, the only somewhat confusing slide Steve used (which isn’t too confusing) was this one announcing the different price points based on memory and 3G (an extra $130 per model)

So, there you have it. A few lessons from Steve on doing a “PowerPoint” presentation.

1. Keep your slides uncluttered. Strive for simplicity.
2. Use large font sizes (anything less than 40 pts. should be a concern). The bigger the better.
3. Use one large graphic and minimal text to say a lot.
4. Strive to find a simple way to say something complex.
5. Get to the core of your point, and just illustrate that.
6. Look for creative ways to say the same things
7. Don’t spend time reading off your slides. Their job is to augment you, not drive the presentation (note: if you don’t put too much info on a slide, this becomes automatic).
8. Use lots of slides. It doesn’t cost any more to add an extra slide. You don’t need to cram a lot of info on one slide. Most of my presentations have 80 – 140 slides.
9. Practice, practice, practice. Steve and his team run through their presentations multiple times before going live.
10. Get a Mac and Keynote. You’ll be glad you did!!! :-)

P.S. Post writing the above, I found a YouTube video that takes a humorous look at the adjectives Steve and his team use. Even as a Mac Addict, I have to admit, this is fun (cool, awesome, unbelievable, remarkable, exciting, gorgeous, amazing, super …)

The ones I found most interesting and can probably help you the most were as follows.

1. Plan in Analog – In other words, before Steve and his team move to Keynote (the Mac version of Powerpoint) and other digital options, he starts by creating/writing a storyboard, similar to a movie. And just like any good story teller, he builds anticipation and plans for surprises. When was the last time you did that?
2. Focus on Benefits – Even though Steve is usually revealing updates to products, he doesn’t focus on the product. Instead, he focuses his comments on the benefits that come from using that product. Similar to the old adage, “No one needs a drill, everyone needs holes,” Steve keeps drilling down on benefits, as you can see in the following image for why developers should create Apps for the iPhone.
3. Create Twitter Friendly Headlines - I love this one. If you look at the number of words on a typical PPT slide, vs. a Jobs’ slide, it’s almost humorous. Steve is notorious for minimalism. So, for example, when he introduced the MacBook Air, the title slide simply said, “World’s thinnest notebook.” Can you position your products with just three to five words?
4. Create Visual Slides – I actually watched the webcast when Steve was introducing the MacBook Air and I can remember this slide. The image of a laptop inside an envelope was powerful. Not much more needed to be said. Note also how uncluttered the image is. Take a look at your last Powerpoint presentation. How many words were on your average slide?
5. Use Props – Another common feature of most of Jobs’ presentations is that he always does some kind of demonstration. Frequently he sits down at his Mac and then you watch the screen to see in real time something that he’s doing. It might be to demonstrate the ease of creating a movie in iMovie or retrieving a lost file in Time Machine or playing around with new cool app on the iPhone. What can you use besides your voice and PPT slides?
6. Practice a Lot – This is one of my favorites. I’m forever telling speakers they need to practice more before they get up to speak. While Steve’s presentations may come off very relaxed and unrehearsed, they’re anything but. He prepares for days for every moment of the presentation. Now, while you may not have days, you should at least run through your talk two or three times before presenting it.

Well, those were my favorite six. But you can see the whole presentation at BW by clicking here. However, don’t forget to print this list of six things out and use it the next time you have to give a presentation. Taking your cues from Steve Jobs isn’t a bad model to follow!

To your accelerated success!

The basic story line goes like this (note: hang in there, this has a great ending).

To test their ideas, the Washington Post had Joshua Bell, dress like a street musician and play six Bach violin concertos for 45 minutes on a cold January morning at a DC Metro stop. During that time frame, approximately 2,000 people passed by him on their way to work–only a few of whom stopped to listen.

All totaled, by the time he was finished 45 minutes later, only six people had stopped long enough to listen for any length of time and only 20 people had given him any money. The total take for 45 minutes of Joshua Bell’s playing time that morning at the DC Metro stop, $32. The applause, none.

Now, what makes that so remarkable, is that Bell often plays to sold-out audiences in the best performance halls around the world, he’s undoubtedly one of the best violinists on planet earth, he plays on a $3.5 million violin, he normally charges around $100 per person to hear him perform (e.g. 1500 people x $100 = $150,000), and he normally plays to standing ovations (I know, I’ve seen him play).

So, let’s recap what happened. The same Joshua Bell, playing on the same $3.5M violin, playing six of the most beautiful violin concertos of all time–and with the same brilliance as he normally does in a performance hall (where the receipts might be anywhere from $100K-$150K) only walked away with $32 and a few people willing to stop for a few minutes to listen.

So, what made the difference? It wasn’t the product (Bell playing Bach on his $3.5M violin), was it? No! It was the context, the perception of value, and the packaging of the product that made the difference–NOT the product itself.

But isn’t that exactly the mistake that most businesses make. They keep thinking it’s about their product or service. So they keep talking about their product or service as though that were everything–but it’s not. Whenever anyone gets sucked into focusing on how great their product or service is, they’re almost always sucked into a commodity mindset (and they end up with $32 playing on a DC Metro stop).

However, there is another alternative. The other alternative is to boost the perceived value. Looking at Bell’s normal marketing plan, changing the venue (i.e. the packaging) to a first-class performance hall, like the Kennedy Center, changes his perceived value immensely. Raising his ticket prices, changes his perceived value.

Doing PR on TV and radio, increases his perceived value. Winning competitions increases his perceived value. Being the featured violinist in Hollywood films increases his perceived value. Playing alongside some of the greatest violinists and conductors, increases his perceived value. Letting people know he plays on a $3.5M violin increases his perceived value. Sharing testimonials of listeners, conductors, and famous people increases his perceived value. Etc.

In other words, it’s not the product itself that creates the value. Whether Bell is playing at a DC Metro Stop or at the Kennedy Center, it’s still the same product. However, the difference in perceived value is the difference between $32 and $150,000.

So, as you look at your products and services, what can you start doing NOW to increase the perceived value of what you offer? Remember, you don’t want to focus on your product or service alone. You want to focus on increasing the perceived value of what you offer–and when you do that, you’ll immediately begin making more and more money for the same product or service–just like Joshua Bell!

To your accelerated success!

It’s an important question if you want to grow an accelerated growth company.

If you’re not sure, then just think back over the past few years. Think Twitter. Facebook. Myspace. Apple.  Starbucks. Google. Netflix. And Dancing with the Stars (Note: I don’t watch :-), however it is consistently in the top ten shows, according to Nielson–though I’m much more of a 24 kind of guy).

Each of those companies (and shows) has grown significantly because they were sizzling hot and word of mouth took off.

So when was the last time you (and your team) asked, “Is what we’re doing sizzling hot?”

Or similar questions like, “Are we addressing a big pain or problem that needs to be solved?” “Are our customers raving about us?” “Are the media and our target market beating down our doors to get to us?”

If not, then maybe those are the kinds of questions you need to ask—and then answer. I’ve found very few businesses that ask (and answer) those kinds of questions, even though they’re vital to a company’s success.

And don’t think your business is different. A few week’s ago I met Seth Goldman,  the CEO of Honest Tea (which is President Obama’s favorite drink). If Seth and his team can make colored water sizzling hot, you can make what you do, sizzling hot as well. Your category and niche are irrelevant.

So, how can you make what you do sizzling hot over the next three months?

To your accelerated success!