I believe in Godin

Recently a few co-workers and I went to see Seth Godin. Held at the Tempe Improv, it was an interesting venue for a marketing seminar. Maybe this is what all comedy clubs do at 9AM. Before Seth came out I had one of those thoughts you just kind of keep to yourself. I imagined Gallagher coming out on stage and smashing a watermelon with a sledgehammer, shocking the entire room of marketers. Like there was some kind of scheduling error.

So I chuckled to myself at this ridiculous scenario, then I started to really think about the legendary Gallagher. To refresh your memory, he was a comedian from the eighties who has made a career of smashing watermelons on stage. Yeah, that's supposed to be funny. And doing it for over 2 decades is the polar opposite of funny. They explode when struck with a sledgehammer, we get it. But somewhere along the line that was accepted as being hilarious, and took off. But hey, it took some chutzpah for him to try that gimmick, and it worked. I guess you can't bash the guy completely.

So anyway, Seth comes out and he's got one of those eccentric personalities that instantly grabs you. He didn't smash any large fruit on stage, but the guy delivered his marketing expertise in a very entertaining way.

Discussing subjects from his new book called "The Dip", he seemed to strike a nerve with everything he said. We all get that high off coming up with a good idea. Once we decide to execute it, you are in for 'the dip' before any success comes out of it. It’s going to get difficult, because anything worth doing is. If that 'dip' seems too hard, then we'll switch our focus to an easier idea. In essence, we give up.

‘The Dip’ is not just something for entrepreneurs to get through. In my experience in advertising and now in the interactive world, ideas I present have to get through the dips. The idea has to be worth the time and effort, and most importantly, the money. And if it’s a little out there, clients seldom go for it. The safe concepts usually get picked. There is comfort in mimicking others and being safe. Less dips.

When it comes to interactive executions, the public craves the different idea. They want something new. I will admit, it does depend on the client, the product and the situation. But if you are trying to build brand awareness, the safe approach might be the biggest waste of time and money. Personally, I think the safe ideas are what we should fear in interactive marketing.

What if Gallagher played it safe?

Myspace, can we still be friends?

I remember my first social network, 'Friendster'. We hung out a little back in 2003 and parts of 2004. I was pretty into it, then a friend introduced me to 'MySpace'. MySpace pretty much knocked my socks off, and for the first time in my life I had a serious social network. I pretty much saw MySpace everyday.
Thinking I was going to be with MySpace forever, I declined opportunities to log into this hot new network named 'Facebook'. I had some buddies tell me that Facebook was smarter and better looking, but I didn't give into the temptation and decided to be faithful to MySpace.
Well, I cheated on MySpace the other day, and got on Facebook. And I have to admit, I enjoyed it. Facebook has a beautiful interface and doesn't nag me all day with annoying requests like MySpace does. I don't think MySpace knows I have been seeing Facebook for the last week, but it's just a matter of time. We already have about 12 mutual friends. I know it’s early, but I think Facebook may be my soul network.

Ray Ban Gets Their Viral On

There's a good chance you've seen this. That video of a guy catching a pair of sunglasses perfectly with his face. You can tell it's fake with special effects, but it's still fun to watch. So is this just another bunch of you-tubers soaking up their 15 minutes, or is a clever ad agency behind it? If it's PG enough and has a brand attached to it in some way, you have to question it. In this case, a classic pair of Ray Ban sunglasses happen to be used in this piece.

Cue eye brow raise and rubbing of chin.

Well not surprisingly, Ray Ban is behind this viral video. And kudos to whoever put this together. Something that can get this much positive exposure is the holy grail of interactive marketing, and every company would do it if they could.

So are we at the point where we are annoyed by these attempts? This is a new form of advertising that we are getting used to, and it usually involves fooling people in order to make it spread. So it is different in that aspect, but I think it triggers the same emotions that any form of advertising would. If it's good, you don't mind it. If it's not good, you loathe it. The good thing about viral marketing is the poor executions most likely won’t land in your inbox.

So now do you see a video of a guy catching sunglasses with his face, or a group of Ray Ban execs high-fiving each other?