duminică, 13 martie 2016

Seth's Blog : The difference between confidence and arrogance



The difference between confidence and arrogance

Confidence is arrogance if the market doesn't believe the story.

When we show up with something great, something generous, well-executed and new, some people will be suspicious. "Is this everything it's cracked up to be?" The skeptic wonders if we have the standing to back it up.

You're not going to be able to persuade those skeptics. In fact, when you try, you end up dressing up your confident presentation with too many claims and you risk being seen as merely arrogant.

The classic 1984 Apple commercial was beautifully confident. It pulled no punches, it was perfectly crafted and it described a product that some people believed would change their lives.

The 1985 commercial, though, was perceived as arrogant. Without enough to back it up, the skeptic in us said, "I don't want this change*, it's not real." (*the bulk of the market doesn't ever truly want change, because change brings risk and risk brings fear. Give people a chance to avoid change, and they'll likely take it).

The market needs the hubris of high expectations, it's the only thing that seduces some people to embrace change. But the provider (that's us) has to tell a coherent, resonant, true story that touches the right people the right way.

       

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sâmbătă, 12 martie 2016

Seth's Blog : Self awareness in the face of marketing



Self awareness in the face of marketing

"I know that this expensive herbal tincture homeopathic remedy is merely an expensive placebo. But I'll take it anyway, because placebos work."

A friend used to wear a fur coat in the winter, telling me that it was the only thing that kept her warm. Of course, if the goal was warmth, she'd probably be better off wearing it inside out.

We buy luxury goods, take placebos and engage in all sorts of actions that aren't going to hold up under the rational analysis of a double-blind study. But they work because we want them to. And often, we want them to because of marketing.

We end up conflating the things we believe with the powerful marketing that got us to believe those things. We feel like questioning the role of marketing is somehow questioning who we are and what we hold dear.

Mostly, marketing is what we call it when someone else is influenced by a marketer. When we're influenced, though, it's not marketing, it's a smart choice.

Do you use that toothpaste because they ran ads that resonated with you, or because you think it actually makes your teeth whiter?

It doesn't have to be this way... The thing is, placebos work even if you're smart enough to know that they're placebos.

Are there primary voters who say, "I know that he craves attention, hustling and manipulating to sell emotional promises, not realistic action, but I'm going to vote for him anyway, because it makes me feel powerful to do so..."?

As soon as that self-awareness kicks in, it's possible to be more discerning about what you believe and why.

Or are there mindful people who say, "there's no clear right answer in this conflict, but my people, my folks, we have always supported this side, so I'm going to keep doing that, because breaking with them is too painful..."?

As soon as you ask that question, it's a lot easier to have a civil, productive conversation, because instead of wearing yourself out arguing tropes, you can talk about the actual issue, which is belonging to a tribe. We can talk about how we work through the cultural change to get to a new place, not have an argument about history.

Marketing works. It's powerful. We're able to acknowledge that and see it for what it is without giving up what we choose to believe. 

We can create better decisions and more amity by being clear with ourselves and others about how marketing is changing what we believe (and vice versa).

It's a lot harder to be manipulated if you accept that there's a manipulator, and it's a lot easier to see a path forward if you acknowledge that you weren't looking for one before.

       

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vineri, 11 martie 2016

Seth's Blog : Galvanized



Galvanized

When George Martin first met the Beatles and became their producer, he liked their sound and their energy, but he didn't think they could write songs. So he licensed a song, handed it to them and had them record it. John and Paul hated doing this, so they asked if they could write one. That became their first hit. Faced with opposition and competition, they became better songwriters.

Sir George didn't think much of Pete Best, their drummer, and he said so. He wanted to hire session musicians as drummers. Faced with a loss of cohesion and control, John, Paul and George took action, fired Pete, found and hired Ringo.

George didn't think there was a chance this Ringo guy was any good, so he had a session musician sit in for the first recording. Ringo brought his A game on the next track and that was the end of session musicians sitting in.

Often, our best work happens when we're in a situation we wouldn't have chosen for ourselves. The hard part is choosing to be in that sort of situation in the first place, the uncomfortable one where we have no choice but to do better work.

Find a galvanizer if you can. If you care.

       

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