bethtemple4u

The Beginning of the Unbundled Magazine?

Beth Temple — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:15:58 +0000

There has been a lot talk about the unbundling of the album and hopeful talk that cable will unbundle – but I don’t recall any talk of unbundling a magazine. Who would pay for an article when so much content is free?

Well, for one – me. Earlier this week I bought a Fortune article for $1.99 (here: http://amzn.to/w5wksk). I could have waited for the magazine (print or iPad) and paid an additional $3 – but I wanted the scoop! This was clearly a well-crafted test by Fortune, who had all the right factors in place:

1) Well-targeted content. Who else but digi-heads would pay for the scoop on Facebook? Oh yeah, Fortune reading business people thinking about the upcoming IPO.

2) Pre-release promotion. Fortune pre-promoted the story in a mini-story with a link to where you could buy the article prior to any other publication. (Pre-promotion is getting more common – think pre-airing of NBC’s Smash.)

3) Exclusivity. It would seem unlikely that anyone else had the exact same access to this content to be able to duplicate the story

4) Trusted brand. There has to be some track record of category excellence. Fortune’s breaking in-depth business stories (think Enron) comes to mind.

5) Ownership control. Fortune owns the content and has full control of when the article goes into full open release (it is still not available online).

The brands that could do this are limited, Vogue, maybe The Atlantic – but it’s interesting just the same. And it is great to see companies trying new ways of valuing content. Totally worth the $1.99.

Big Change – Small Steps

Beth Temple — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:39:10 +0000

In my work the most constant thing is change. Most people hate and fear change. And for good reasons: it’s hard, it requires fortitude and forethought, and it’s hard.

Over the years I’ve learned a few things about how to successfully incorporate change. There are a lot of moving parts – but here are a few of the must haves:

1) A great deal of planning and preparing must to go into any major change initiative. It’s best if part of that planning takes into account the actual ability of the company to take on change (seems obvious but wanting change and being able to change are two totally different things). Not everyone has to be on board, but its better to know upfront who isn’t and why.

2) Miscommunication is the bane of almost all change initiatives. Companies usually have it backwards: a) too much talk up front creating a time gap between all the talk and any kind of action and b) not enough talk prior to the change and while it is going on.

3) Someone high up has to be ‘all in’. The most successful change initiatives I’ve been involved in have been when someone very senior (often the President/CEO) stands up and stakes their reputation and the company’s future on the change (which is often the case). That same executive has to be involved in planning milestones and actively a part of the communications.

4) Change does not come overnight and it shouldn’t. Most successful changes occur over time and in small bites. This means that a roll-out plan should delineate several distinct stages and at each stage clear communications should be distributed via an appropriate channel – and the answer is not always in an email. Smaller steps help to condition people slowly to the bigger change, which makes it easier to adjust to.

Turning an Angry Customer into a Brand Advocate in an Instant

Beth Temple — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:12:52 +0000

Sometimes our world is a little too instantaneous. It use to be fast-food and then it was overnight delivery and now it is customer service that needs to be ready 24/7 – any down time can lead to a disaster in message control in the Twittersphere.

We’ve all experienced situations where some brand has not met our expectation and we send out a tweet as a call to arms, a Revere-worthy alarm. The most customer-centric brands are those who are at the ready to solve or salve our complaints – and in the best cases delight us.

I have one such example. Over the weekend, ordr.in caught a tweet that came in from a very unhappy customer. (Full disclosure I am a Board of a Director at ordr.in).

Through a series of well-executed and immediate actions by the CEO and CTO (outlined below), within an hour’s time this was what the customer tweeting:

Whew – a disaster averted! Here is a blueprint of the key steps that secured the happy ending:

1. Publicly acknowledge

2. Move to private electronic communication, and then

3. Get on the phone as fast as possible.

4. Solve the problem or lay out the steps to solving the problem (as quick as possible)

5. Feed the customer (low blood sugar makes everyone cranky).

For that last one – if you aren’t a food delivery company – anything that goes above and beyond will suffice.

And that ends our tale of instant agitation to instant gratification.

How to Get New Growth

Beth Temple — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:41:15 +0000

The last two days have basically been road signs signaling that ‘danger’ lies ahead: Apathy! Fatigue! Stalled growth! So what’s a company to do?

The hypothesis is there is a set point for growth in most digital businesses and that the time from start to set point is getting shorter because consumers get bored faster and there is always some shiny new thing to distract and lure them away. If this is affecting Facebook, you can guarantee products of lessor grandeur will succumb sooner and with a smaller bang.

The usual solution to the ‘we’re losing market share’ conundrum is piling on more features that won’t cure the boredom; matter of fact, it just adds clutter to it. I think there are plenty of examples of this you can think of on your own (many companies now who are a small percentage of their past glory)

One of the best ways forward is to be the new shiny thing. Instead of adding to your product – build a new one. With data you most likely already have, create/acquire a product that addresses a new niche or provides a better, targeted experience from a popular feature. This is the idea behind portfolio companies like: Smarter Travel Media and IAC. Diversify to fortify!

The Ups and Downs of Social Media

Beth Temple — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:28:10 +0000

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post on app-athy, I thought I’d revisit (read: get on my soapbox): the fatigue factor.

A recent report by GlobalWebIndex validates that social networking is growing (please don’t faint from surprise). It’s important to know that much of that growth is in China, Russia, Brazil and India (aka BRIC). An interesting side-note is the growth of the Google+ social network (49% of India has active profiles).

Equally interesting is where growth is subsiding and why. It seems for Facebook fatigue is setting in. Particularly here in the US, early adopters are “disengaging.” We are fickle crew and our behaviors are likely the beginning of a longer trend of disengagement (decrease of use vs departure from).

This in no way means Facebook is over – it is too much of a force of nature. It only means that there is a likely set point for growth in most digital businesses (of which social applications are a large percentage) and at some point in the growth curve, it is important to focus on sustainability over growth.

Tomorrow I’ll outline a ~~couple of the patterns that are inherent in this trend and offer up some~~ solutions so you’ll have more ups than downs.

There is Too Much App-athy

Beth Temple — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:48:49 +0000

A recent article in USA Today highlights what many of us already know – the actual usage of apps, once downloaded, wanes. The article focuses on the impulse ‘buy’ created by the easy access to download apps and faster data networks (making it truly instant gratification).

The easy of downloading is just one part of what I call the ‘test and toss’ mentality that inflicts many apps. There are several factors that render an app forgettable, or more often, unused.

1) Most apps are ‘free.’ While this price point removes ‘friction’ (what app makers are after) it also implies there is little to no value.

2) Benefits are either non-existent or take too long discover. People add things to their lives to make it better – if that is not explicit in the first use why would someone return to it?

3) Loyalty doesn’t take root. If one app can’t solve my problem (or provide me with something fun to do), I will find another one (easily).

4) App marketplaces aren’t particularly helpful in curating an experience that makes it easy to compare similar apps.

I touched on a similar theme in a recent post about the disruption nobody talks about – which is about how hard it is to disrupt consumer behaviors and patterns with new products. With there always being something ‘new’ to catch a consumer’s eye … is curiosity killing your app?

A True Kickstart for Your New Product

Beth Temple — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:48:25 +0000

Everyone needs a kick-start now again (I say this on my third cup of coffee this morning). And many of you know about the site Kickstarter that allows companies to post a description of their company/product along with a funding goal.

If you aren’t familiar (or even if you are) you should read David Pogue’s column in today’s The New York Times. He writes mostly from the perspective of the people who go to the site and make the pledges – what motivates them (many things do).

Let me take a different perspective: that of the entrepreneur. My interest in Kickstarter has always been its potential for early stage businesses to use it as a test market. This isn’t true for all the companies – but for those who are building real products, Kickstarter is a great place to gauge interest and even pricing – because you can give your target market “… a chance to preorder the gadget being developed…”

Think of Kickstarter as a place to judge future interest through pre-launch sales. It is a great way to learn the ropes of merchandising, marketing and pricing. Companies must promote their pledge campaign and set levels of participation; promoting the product at the right level can help to validate real market pricing. If more people want your $25 t-shirt, that says something too.

I am happily awaiting my current Kickstarter ‘pledge’ from TouchFire (which sold out on Kickstarter but is now in pre-orders).

NOTE: I have no business association with either Kickstart.com or TouchFire.

The Future of TV = The Future of Video

Beth Temple — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:36:00 +0000

Television is going to be one of those rare words that is going to take on new meaning at the same time it is going to represent a time passed. With CES kicking off (WSJ sub) this week it seemed a good time to do a little predicting about what is in store for ‘TV‘.

First off, everyone is talking about the Future of TV. Mark Suster has a great article on the signs that TV is about to be disrupted (his #2 sums it up). Fast Company says TV gets sexy (I don’t know about that!). Everyone is waiting for news on the entrance of Apple’s TV (especially TV manufacturers). And you can’t have a post about the future of TV without mentioning the numbers of cord cutters (which is growing).

I think what is ahead is quite simple: TV is going to by synonymous with video. You might watch a video on a TV, but its more likely you’ll watch a TV show video on a laptop or tablet along with plenty of other types of videos from all kinds of “producers”. The semantic change is already happening. You can see it in the stats of the growth of video – video encompasses all kinds of formats (see in this chart the use of “TV/video”).

This will create competition for viewers from a wider variety of sources. Think Netflix and how it is producing its own original content (which will compete against its own customers!). Assume that traditional print brands (aka magazines) will also start producing TV/video specific content and doing distribution deals. And don’t forget every budding Spielberg out there. Branding the experience will become more important because the where you watch will seem less relevant to the actual experience (see the chart on mobile video with YouTube and CBS in same list).

On the Internet anyone can be a cable channel.

What Are We Going to do About Today?

Beth Temple — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:10:18 +0000

Today (the show) seems to be grappling with it’s future and we’re all watching. It’s interesting when a ‘network jewel’ has the same challenge as a whole industry – do we stay with journalism traditions or do we embrace ‘reality’ culture? It couldn’t be clearer than the choice that Comcast has to make: keep Matt or add Ryan?

The solution is right under their noses and most viewers already consider it to be the format of the show anyway. It just needs to be formalized and the contract negotiations are a good starting point. Comcast can have their Matt and their Ryan too.

If it is true that Matt wants less time on the couch, give him the 7-7:30am slot (call it ‘Start Today’) – 30 minutes of real news: political, world, interesting – curated journalism without the Kardashians. Maybe it goes until 8am. Then turn it over to Ryan for lifestyle reporting where talk on cooking, health, pop culture and suggestive selling can dominate and propagate (they are doing something similar now at the 10am hand-off).

When there is a crisis that requires more than 30 minutes, keep Matt on and shift the show to reflect the urgency of the content. Viewers are already time-shifting their shows, why can’t the shows do a little time shifting as well?

Bottom line: let’s de-couple the idea of news and nibbles as being the same thing. We’ll all be better for it – come Today and Tomorrow.

The Disruption Nobody Talks About

Beth Temple — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:26:17 +0000

There is plenty of talk about how digital technology disrupts existing companies and industries. We’re pretty good at it. However, another form of disruption works against most digital companies and rarely gets talked about at all – the disruption that technology creates for a consumer. Humans are routine animals and to be truly successful you have to disrupt their routine.

Let me explain. Consumer disruption occurs in two different ways.

1) They need to figure out how it works (technical application).

2) They need to figure how it will fit into their day/life (practical application).

Both of these take time (a limited resource) and are big reasons why so many apps/products/services are tried and discarded (resulting in costly churn).

So what can be done? Put yourself in your users’ shoes (sounds simple but its not).

1) Think through what the process will be to adopt your product while you are thinking about what you’ll do to develop it.

2) Don’t assume your business promise or interface design is right until you test it with your actual target market.

3) Don’t fall in love with what you’ve built because your digerati pals (and media) think you are onto something. Scale comes from mainstream adoption – and that’s when disruption can trip up your business.