Archives for June 2008

Or maybe I should say the marketing of art …

I’ve been doing a lot of drawing lately - gearing up for an amateur painting contest with some friends. And this is all on the lo-fi, and by that I mean on canvas, not photoshop.

Anyway, I’ve also been studying some of history’s great masters to get some ideas on style and technique and I came across J W Waterhouse’s Hylas and the Nymphs. And my first thought was … ‘Man, that’s good marketing’!

So let’s take a look at this great classic work of art (pictured above) and see what it can teach us about marketing …

1. Sex Sells. Like it or not, it’s true. Personally I think it’s more correct to say “sexy” sells. Regardless, you can put a pretty smile on a bottle of rat poison and rats or no rats, sell truckloads of the stuff. Nothing is more imperative than the biological imperative.
2. Find the Ideal and Repeat it. Idealism was an art movement that basically took the best parts of Realism and threw out the rest … look at all the nymphs … they could be twins, triplets, er … well you get the point. They’re all the same. They’re all Waterhouse’s ideal version of a beautiful woman. And repetition is what you use to promote your ideal.
3. It’s All About Lifestyle. Location is a big part of this. So is portraying leisure and fun. What could be more refreshing on a hot summer day than a cool, clear freshwater swimming hole. Think about the lifestyle you want to associate with your product or service and transport your customers there with your marketing.
4. The Real Story is Just Beginning. The end-note of your marketing is just the beginning of your customer getting on board. And it’s always good to leave your audience wanting more. As a marketer, it’s your job to lead people to the idea of what that “more” is, and then let them get involved and write the next chapter themselves. In the painting, you can see that Hylas is being dragged into the pond by the beautiful nymphs. And that’s where the painting ends.

But that’s not the end of the story.

Not if rule number one has anything to say about it.

The great thing about classic tales is they’ve stood the test of time. And so has all the great advice you can get from them …

1. Never judge a book by it’s cover. Just because a guy is wearing a leather skirt and a funny hat, doesn’t mean he can’t still kick your ass.
2. Never send a boy to do a man’s job, (Achilles’ cousin gets killed by Hector while pretending to be Achilles). If you’re at that “almost a man but not quite” age, just know, we’ve all been there. We got razzed for doing some of the dumbest stuff you can imagine. So will you.
3. Never accept gifts from your enemies. Especially if it’s a wooden horse. Remember, Sun Tzu said “keep your friends close, and your enemies closer”. Well, this is what he was talking about.
4. Always give gifts to your enemies. Especially wooden horses.
5. Make short term and long term plans. Sure, there’s a guy standing right in front of you with a spear. There’s also a guy way up ahead with a bow. Be prepared for both challenges.
6. Burn your dead. Metaphorically speaking … maybe your house is full of clutter or you’ve got a list of must-do tasks sitting in the procrastination zone. Get rid of that stuff before it starts to stink up the joint.
7. Never follow a fat king. Guys like Agamemnon care about one thing; Agamemnon. Good leaders fight at the front of the pack and they know the very real consequences of their decisions.
8. Enjoy the little things. Once in a while it’s good to sleep till noon. Bear skin rug and beautiful nymphs are optional. But highly recommended.
9. Nothing is absolute. Not even the walls of Troy; In time, all things fall; stocks, business models, civilizations. You should always have a secret back door out of the city or an exit strategy.
10. Women. Let’s just say it’s complicated. Very, very complicated.

For some more amusement also check out 5 Things Every CEO Can Learn from Frank Miller’s 300 and From Bourne Identity to Leadership Ultimatum.

Stuff happens. Stuff goes wrong. If it doesn’t, then something really is wrong. And when stuff goes wrong, sometimes we have to get as close to failing as we can possibly get to see the right course of action …

A number of years ago I was driving down a highway here in Vancouver with my girlfriend at the time. It’s a 4 lane highway and there’s the odd light-slash-intersection. As I was driving, a woman coming the other way decided to turn left in front of me.

She started to turn; she had all the time in the world. And then she just stopped. In my lane. She froze and I was barreling straight towards her.

And there was no way I could stop in time.

Every Second is a Lifetime

It’s amazing how time literally stops in situations like this. Or maybe we just speed up. But that’s a question better left to Einstein.

My girlfriend grabbed her seat and the door handle. She pushed hard against the floor with both feet and let loose a small whimpering shriek.

A single second lasted longer than any second should. It was agonizing to wait and see if this woman would go or not. She still had time to get out of the way. She still had time to go. Then another second ticked by.

And she didn’t.

With a heartbeat to spare, I swerved over to the other lane and blasted past her. And time started ticking again.

The Breaking Point

A piece of wood will bend before it breaks. Before it fails. That’s a good thing if you’re practicing archery. Not so good if you’re karate kicking planks. But lots of things bend before they break.

I didn’t know if the woman in the car parked in front of me on the highway would suddenly get “unstuck” and peel off. If she did, and I had already chosen to get in the other lane, I would have hit her. Or swerved one way then back again and probably violently out of control.

Stuff happens. And there’s always a breaking point. A point of no return. Sometimes you have seconds to make a life-changing decision. Sometimes you have a lifetime.

If you’re lucky, you have both.

There’s been a lot of chatter about Facebook going public. A lot of people don’t think it’s possible. And I tend to agree … or at least, I used to.

Social media sites like MySpace and YouTube usually end up getting purchased by bigger companies for one simple reason: they can’t financially stand on their own. It’s really difficult for a social media site to earn big returns because users are there to do other things. They don’t click on ads.

Cracking the Web 2.0 Code

Someone’s going to do it. Sooner or later. And of course there are many much smaller websites that are profitable. Just not IPO worthy.

There are a few reasons I like Facebook as an IPO opportunity …

1. Branding. There are a lot of good IPOs but the truly great ones happen with established companies that everyone knows. Companies that have products or services that a lot of people use and depend on.

2. Creativity. More than most social sites, the Facebook team has been willing to try out different (and sometimes controversial) things. And if you want to cook up the omelette that is profitability, you have to crack a few eggs.

3. Focus. Companies the size of Facebook eventually either go public, get bought out, or dwindle into obscurity. Sure, Mark Zuckerberg always answers the “IPO question” by saying they’re focused on building the company with no plans to go public. That’s savvy politics and it’s the right focus to have right now.

Facebook’s Edge Over the Other Guys

I also see some really basic and fundamental advantages that Facebook has over other social media sites. Advantages that could lead it to profitablility and a successful IPO …

1. Partnership Leverage. Facebook apps has done two things; it’s allowed third parties to make a great deal of money with facebook which never hurts your popularity. But it’s also given Facebook more access to multimedia (like YouTube videos) dynamically - which translates into all the fun, without all the bandwidth costs. The Facebook API should bring more of the same, but put Facebook in the earnings seat.

2. Effective Dull Space. Your typical MySpace page looks like someone threw up on a Jackson Pollock painting. Making it difficult to make anything stand out. Facebook’s interface is much cleaner, even with all the wild apps that people run. This makes it a lot easier to present advertising and actually have people notice it.

The Patience to Get There

Amazing “can’t miss” IPOs don’t happen everyday. They come along once every year or two. And they offer significant investing opportunities … think Google, Mastercard, Visa.

There are a ton of great companies to invest in, but grabbing these young stocks of world class companies brings in strong and sure returns in the first few years. So I’m always patiently looking at the horizon for the next one.

And maybe. Just maybe, in 2009 or 2010, it’ll be Facebook.