Using thought leadership to position Motorola, a podcast with Eduardo Conrado

Eduardo Conrado and I met up at the MarketingProfs conference at the beginning of October. I really liked his approach to using thought leadership in the positioning of the Enterprise Division of Motorola.

As global marketing VP, Eduardo controls the marketing for all of Motorola’s enterprise B2B products worldwide. So naturally I wanted to better understand his approach to thought leadership, as well as how he defines success. I also wanted to learn which Web 2.0 tactics are working for his teams around the globe. Enjoy …



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About Eduardo

Eduardo Conrado is vice president of Global Business and Technology Marketing & Communications for Motorola, Inc. His role encompasses three of Motorola’s four primary businesses with revenues of over $17 billion: Home & Networks Mobility, Government & Public Safety, and Enterprise Mobility.

Reporting to Motorola’s chief marketing officer, Eduardo is responsible for driving a worldwide team that focuses on Motorola’s vital B2B marketing strategy - from overall branding, to product and regional/channel marketing, to interactive and direct marketing. He also leads both internal and external communications, including employee communications, public relations and industry analyst relations.

 

Web 2.0 Puts the Interactive into Interactive Marketing

Consider this: since the birth of Web 1.0, we have called the use of the Web for marketing “interactive.” But with all due respect to that label, there’s been very little interactive about it.

Web 1.0 was all about creating long pages of content posted to a website and emails filling your inbox. But the only person interacting with your company was the person on the other side of those emails. Moreover, there really wasn’t the chance for that person to “interact” with anyone – or perhaps more appropriately any thing – but your company.

Web 2.0 is really about giving users the ability to connect with one another - now that’s interactivity! Which brings us to Metcalfes’s Law. Applied here, it means the more users participating in more sites, the more dynamic the Internet will become.

In that light, to truly embrace Web 2.0 you need to start using your brand as a connection point between two or more parties, not just a connection point to your brand!

 

Buzz Marketing Hightlights from this week ...

Is Podcasting Dead?
No way - if fact I am hearing about more marketers considering podcasting in 2008 than any year before - why they realize it is part of an integrated marketing strategy not a stand alone tactic
(tags: Podcasting, Podcasts)

Social Media Spending Goes Up - Why Wait for ROI?
Prospero’s 2007 Social Media Survey found 30 percent of online marketers who use social media plan to spend significantly more on social-media applications in 2008! - well thats great news
(tags: Social Media)

Has the Web 2.0 Hype Cycle Kicked In?
Great article by Jim Nail former Forrester research analyst who questions the growth of Conversational Marketing vs Interactive Marketing. Conversational Marketing is an essential element of Web 2.0 but will it outpace Interactive Marketing's growth?
(tags: Conversational Marketing, Interactive Marketing)

CSI: Comes To Second Life
Here is the long awaited cross over of TV into Second Life - ever since I encountered Second Life I believed there would be TV shows that would "open source" their show to the World Wide audience of Second Life. Could you imagine Sopranos in Second Life.
(tags: Second Life)

The Top 5 Reasons Why Everyone in Business Should Blog
Nancy raises some good points - I still don't believe that blogging is for everyone since it is a labor of love - but its worth checking out her reasons
(tags: Blogging)

 

Twitter: Valuable Tool, or Waste of Time?

Is microblogging the latest fad or the next big thing? Microblogging is just like regular blogging, except it’s limited to 140 characters. The leader in the space is Twitter.

According to a recent blog post by Peter Kim, Twitter is now used regularly by 6% of American online adults. That sounds about right to me, although Twitter power user Robert Scoble thinks the figure is “way too high.” But if you want to reach an affluent, well-educated, early adopter audience, there might not be a better communication channel out there.

To get a better sense of this emerging social media tool, we assembled a micro-panel to discuss it: Jeremiah Owyang, a senior analyst on Social Computing at Forrester Research and a fan of Twitter, and David Berkowitz, director of Emerging Media at 360i, who is skeptical about Twitter's application to business. We hope you enjoy the lively debate!



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Listen learn and weigh in – Let us know which side you are on by leaving a comment on this blog. Or, feel free to comment on a topic you would like us to explore further.

Coming up will be another Prof-cast, “Pay per Click: Boom or Bust??” It features Alan Rimm-Kaufman, who leads the Rimm-Kaufman Group and is a fan of Pay per Click, and Steve Rubel, senior vice president at Edelman, who is skeptical about the future of Pay per Click.

So don’t miss it …

 

An Innovative Idea for using a Blog

At the recent MarketingProf’s conference I encountered an innovative idea for using a blog. I just haven’t been able to get it out of my mind, so I wanted to share it with you …

A panel run by David Armano on Social Media in a B2B world had a panelist from Leopardo Construction, Todd Andrilik. Todd, who’s the company’s director of marketing and PR, is using a wordpress blog as a newsroom .

I think this is really quite clever since, like a blog, press items are normally viewed in reverse chronological order. Therefore, they are a perfect adaptation for a blog. But he didn’t stop there. He added RSS (naturally), and built-in Search, Archives by Month, Categories (tags), Sharing and Bookmarking (like del.icio.us), Suggested Reading (which was a plugin) and some YouTube video links embedded into the blog. However, no comments – which I think is ok.

So a big shout out to Todd for implementing this. I think it is very innovative, and I was impressed by the idea. It’s one I wish I’d thought of!

 

Buzz Highlights from this week ...

Handvertising
Cool idea - not sure B2B buyers will like this as much as B2C buyers
(tags: advertising)

The Devaluation of Traffic
Steve Rubel discusses the changing economics behind traffic on the web - will this be an issue for advertisers in the future?
(tags: online advertising)

OutTwit Your Friends from Microsoft Outlook
I dont know why but I like this idea of integrating Twitter with your Outlook - I will give it a try but its bound to have non fans
(tags: Twitter)

10 Truths of Marketing in a Web2.0 World
a sneak peak at a cool preso that Rohit Bahargava gave at eMarketing Summit
(tags: web2.0)

The many Challenges of Writing a CEO blog
Jerimah outlines the many challenges of a CEO blogging and the necessary evils to keeping it going
(tags: Blogging, Blogs)

Why is your Technorati authority and ranking falling?
No single answer here - Mack goes into a theory about how our media diet is changing which I think it is but I can say that is changing technorati - I thought it was some sort of change to their formula
(tags: Technorati, Blogging)

 

Interview with Stephanie Fierman, on practicing Brand Self Defense

Through a classic Google search on her name, Stephanie Fierman found some unwelcome entries. The experience led Stephanie to wage a one-woman crusade to alert marketers and non marketers about how to practice personal brand defense. You can read her full story here.

I had a chance to interview Stephanie about her experience in practicing personal brand defense...



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About Stephanie Fierman

Stephanie Fierman is a marketing executive for the digital age. Known for building both profitability and brand equity for companies in all stages of growth and across different business sectors, Ms. Fierman has contributed to the success of both Internet start-ups as well as Fortune 50 companies including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Time Warner. She graduated as a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Fierman volunteers much of her personal time and talent to several arts and education organizations in New York City. For more information, go to www.stephaniefierman.com.

 

Was Radio the First Social Network?

Listening to [music on] the radio the other day (Two for Tuesday!), a thought struck me: the way radio was supposed to work, in the pre-payola days, the most popular tunes as requested by listeners got played the most and received the most airtime. Sort of an early version of user-generated content meets social network.

Today, blogs link to the most popular articles and content on the Web. They create a “Top 40” of whatever type of content (the songs) you are looking for.

Is radio sounding like the world’s first social network to you?

 

Buzz Highlights from this week ...

41 Common Blogging Mistakes
Here is a great list of common blogging mistakes - a good review for anyone with a blog
(tags: Blogs, Blogosphere, Blogging)

Another take on the social media press release
Maggie Fox has published another example of a Social Media Press Release (SMPR) this one with Ford - and its worth a look!
(tags: Social Media, PR, SMPR)

The Future of the Press Release
Brian Solis shows his vision for the Future of the Press Release - I agree the press release needs to evolve to more of a new media vehicle(tags: Press Release)

How to Use YouTube to Generate Leads
Great post from MarketingSherpa on this topic which suggests the use of YouTube more like a single delivery channel for all your video
(tags: Video)

Linking Abuse Or Linking Awareness
Andy Beard sets the record straight for how to use links - sometime link love is more like link abuse
(tags: Linking)

 

Localize your Brand

On a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, I shot this photo of 2 soda machines in the park’s Lake Lodge. Clearly, one of them is branded with the local customer in mind. It’s a textbook example of how to localize your brand for an audience. Can you guess which one I bought my soda from? I would love to see the sales data from these 2 machines.



Here’s another example from down the road, courtesy of the Bank of Jackson Hole. The effect is of a tree trunk with an ATM embedded in it. Yes, a freak of nature. But the machine is well integrated into its surroundings! You could say that it blends in maybe too much and you might miss it. But it’s certainly better then having those large clunky ATMs all over town!

 

Career Distinction, a podcast with author William Arruda

In the new world of work, your reputation is the only accepted currency. Whether you’re looking to move up the corporate ladder at your current organization, find a position at another company, make a major career change, or start your own enterprise, you’ll no longer be hunting for your next position. Instead, opportunities will come to you. Colleagues, hiring managers, clients, and recruiters will use Google and their social and professional networks to find out about you and reach you.

To thrive in this new environment, you need to identify your personal assets and clearly communicate your unique value promise. That’s why I jumped at the chance to speak with William Arruda, co-author of the book Career Distinction, at the MarketingProfs conference in Chicago, where he gave a keynote speech. I hope you enjoy …



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About William

William Arruda is an executive coach, public speaker and author. He combines his 20 years' corporate branding experience, passion for human potential, and avid pursuit of innovation to help professionals stand out and expand their success. He is the founder of Reach, the global leader in personal branding, and co-founder of the Reach Branding Club. JPMorgan, Disney, Adobe, Microsoft, Warner Bros, British Telecom, Electronic Arts and Starwood Hotels are just a few of the corporate clients for whom he's delivered presentations and workshops on the transformative power of personal branding. William has appeared on BBC TV, the Discovery Channel, and Radio America. A sought-after spokesperson on career advancement, he has written for and contributed to the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Time magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times and many other publications throughout the world. He holds a master's degree in education.

 

Buzz Highlights from this week ...

The ROI of Communities
Maggie Fox digs in to find an ROI on Communities using SAP's Developer Network as her example.
(tags: Communities)

Nokia's N95 vs. Apple's iPhone
From the sound of it the NEW Nokia N95 has it all - just when you thought the iPhone was the best. Check out how Nokia has taken the iPhone to the next level!
(tags: iphone, Nokia)

Nominate your favorite marketing blog!
Vote for my blog (assuming you like it) as well as any other Marketing Blogs in the Direct Connections blog contest!
(tags: Blogging, Blogs)

Web 3.0? - the official definition
Jason Calacanis appears to be defining the next gen of Web 2.0 - for me Web 1.0 was about content, Web 2.0 is about interactivity and therefore Web 3.0 will be all about applications.
(tags: Web 3.0)

What's propelling the real adoption of social networks and communities?
Mukund Mohan takes apart social networks and communities to find what makes them tick - personally I think it's the fear of being left behind is fueling marketers interest!
(tags: Communities, Social Networks)

 

Made to Stick, a podcast with author Chip Heath

As author Chip Heath told the audience at the Marketing Profs conference in Chicago this week, “In a market where it is difficult to be heard – only the sticky messages will break through.”

One of the reasons for this is that “common sense” is not sticky enough for people to remember. They assume what they’re hearing or reading is what they get from everyone else, so they flush it from their mind. A good example would be corporate boilerplate or a mission statement. These never seem to have enough bite to really make them stick – hence you need to move from common sense to uncommon sense!

After hearing Chip deliver the conference keynote speech, I decided to ask him a few questions of my own to further illuminate the challenges facing the B2B technology marketer. I hope you enjoy …



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About the Authors

Brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath are the co-authors of the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, which has been a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek bestseller.

The Heath brothers write a monthly column called "Made To Stick" for Fast Company magazine. They have spoken and consulted on the topic of "making ideas stick" with audiences from organizations such as Microsoft, Nissan, Fannie Mae and West Point.

 

Email 360: How to Boost Response in B2B

This morning at the Marketing Profs Conference, Stephanie Miller of Return Path lead a discussion on How to make your B2B email programs scale for higher impact throughout the customer lifecycle.

Stephanie did a great job of engaging the audience in some open dialog. She also presented some stats that I think are noteworthy and worth reflecting on if you’re running the show when it comes to email:

• The percentage of professionals who sign up for email offers was higher than I would have thought – 85%. (source: Return Path)
• The increase in purchase value of email subscribers vs. non subscribers was 17%. That means, on average, the email subscriber bought 17% more! (source: Forrester)
• How much more likely is a B2B subscriber to consider email “spam” if it comes “too frequently”? The answer was twice as likely. That’s daunting, and it means you need to think about the cadence of your emails! (source: MarketingSherpa)
• Percentage of professionals who claim email has had some impact on their purchase decisions was a heartwarming 87%. (source: Forrester)
• Percentage of business people who regularly read business emails on their mobile devices (keyword “regularly”) was 37%, up from 30% just a year ago. (source: Exact Target)
• Percentage of professionals who bother to Unsubscribe was 22%. That’s a little scary, since you should consider your Unsubscribes to be only one-quarter of the real picture!! (source: Return Path)
• Also, just 3% are reading the privacy policy, which means they assume a certain standard is in place. (source: Citrix Online)
• And only 11% of existing email subscribers would prefer to get your content from an RSS feed. (source: Citrix Online)

In today’s always-on environment, we have to be willing to question the systems and processes we have in place to make sure we are hitting the target. There is some good food for thought here for those of you looking to evolve your email programs.