Back Seat Marketers

Hey, technology debates and clash of the titans notwithstanding, Adobe is taking it’s message to the masses.

We all don’t have to like it, but it is the perfect only way to respond to the PR battle they are losing with Steve Jobs, the ultimate person as Apple’s brand pitchman. I mean, the company just needs to write a letter to make it’s point.

Adobe is not going to win the battle in the media, so mass marketing is all it has left. I get it, if you say you love Apple and creativity, then Steve Jobs is a sour hater if he’s not loving Adobe back.

If this were about consumer demand or a “keep my show alive” website for recently cancelled Lost, then maybe there’s a shot, but this is B2B land where public support isn’t going to sway a juggernaut to listen to the masses.

Nice try, but wheels off.

Now that we’re getting all hyped up on the age of digital, we should start to wonder whether news media are more brands that are the mark of quality than exclusively the creator of content. While starting to use my new cool iPad, I am beginning the migration process from print to digital. This new device is the beginning of the end of the constraints of the publishing deadline and all things that go with it, including the vertical integration that was required by the legacy industry.

Makes me think of the value of media brands and not the value of the print medium they are delivered on. In the consumer goods arena, companies can license a name with almost no knowledge of the fact to an end consumer. Can publishers begin the process of licensing brands to lend credibility to new arenas? The NY Times front page, available in your home town? Probably a better produced front page than what is made today. Not possible? With digital editing and delivery, it sure is. In fact, news sources could aggregate and charge for the brands and content additions that you want, like cable. My Netvibes feed does this to a degree, but the delivery is still Yahoo homepage 2004.

Why pay, when it is all free? Because no industry survives on free and most stubbornly find a way to get back to normal profits over time. If the telecom industry can do it, anyone can.

So the market drop on Thursday is being considered the result of an accident. Many folks had enjoyed the recent stock market which had moved us a lot further along in feeling like the economy is coming back. But then one uncertainty sends our fragile mindset into a tailspin. The day after the drop, the S&P 500 went down even more…

What’s even worse is that we even had some pretty good news on the jobs front come out yesterday. No matter, we’re already swayed.

Have to wonder if any highly capitalized hedge funds realize they may be able to move the market now. Volatility and fear never make for good growth.

Update: I guess $1 Trillion in a bailout from the EU gets us closer.

Just took another look at the Consumer Sentiment Index thanks to U of Michigan via the St Louis Fed, and it is still at historically low levels…

The hunt for income dollars are coming in all areas. As we’ve covered, distressing times are when business models are broken [Hint: Amazon quietly gets into private labels after buying and selling, then charging a commission for its marketplace, now house brands...]

Here’s my bet: Stock market lifts and better #s compared to LY’s melt down will lead to a slightly positive holiday, but capped by unemployment and the lack of credit.

Facebook launched vanity URL’s so you can get to a friend’s FB page without searching by name. Good thing, too, cause the name search is a bit wacky if not simply . I am locked in as twitter.com/corysorice and now facebook.com/corysorice. Also, I’ve bought my own domain. Does any of this have value? Who knows, but I’m not going to wait to find out.

Thing is, we’re also starting to line up our real personas on these search engines. So, what is Mike Smith to do once all versions of Mike Smith are gone? I guess Mike-O is an option.

My guess we may see a shift from very popular names being large percentages of the population to a far bigger long tail of unique names (probably with the new round of parents that were growing up with FB).

Think I’ve got a unique name? Try again, an up and coming HS football offensive lineman is creeping into the first page of Google results for Cory Sorice.

Quite interesting to be a part of what my company is going through during this downturn.

In fact, many companies and industries are digging into themselves to find what makes them unique and whether that means anything in this new market. Consumers have changed what they are buying and companies are having to shift gears to line up with those new needs and expectations. For the nimble and lower engineering development companies, shifting product and service programs can be done on the fly. For higher tech companies, shifting gears will take months if not years.

What has happened is a downshift to value based products and consumption, v. premium products and upselling. Having a role in value retail is showing me that the market is hot in sectors. Family Dollar and WalMart can thrive, while Abercrombie hopes teens can get jobs this summer so they can continue to buy $80+ jeans.

I’m amazed right now at how many companies are reeling from poor performance and are not sure where to find growth. Data driven, CRM companies know the score. They are driving business with their existing clients and know how to grow new ones profitably.

Get the word out with your customers that you’re on your toes (and still in business). Use SEO to get found for free. Find the products that you can add on to previous sales. At a time when everybody is struggling to justify buying anything, those that are trusted are going to survive.

Let’s be honest, the stock market turmoil makes great fodder these days. Feeling like we’re getting out of the woods one day leads to punishment the next. I’ve learned to just tune it out and use a few tools to guide me on where things are headed for the economy.

First, The Conference Board posts a month survey of consumer sentiment:

The trend line where the US consumer stands is more important than the single points each month. While not perfect, retail sales and consumer shopping tie into this pretty well.

I’ve also learned over time who to trust when it comes to where the stock market and the consumer divide. Even though the consumer feels better when the stock market goes up, it isn’t the only factor in driving up confidence, thus consumer behavior. Top of the list is Mauldin primarily because he doesn’t post every day, provides analysis instead of reposting of news and is not truly main stream.

I’m believing more and more that the 24×7 news cycle is creating momentum swings faster. We’re getting to the same end point, but are facing a lot more churn in the process. Turn all the noise off, watch the long term trends and stay sane.

The Pew Research Center has found that the one-time and regular use of social networks by older parts of the US population are starting to take hold. This chart is the true sign of technology taking hold:

While many older parts of the US are not as well penetrated as younger ones, what we’re starting to see is the likes of Facebook gain the benefit of network effects and is likely the gateway to deeper use of such tools. The adoption of these tools will create a chance for business models to shift to the much written about referral based, pull demand from consumers instead of push marketing to the masses. In short, conversations, positive experiences and then sales instead of a shotgun and a falling bird.

This year, financial targets are already blown. Any idea of guessing, er, budgeting for 2009 is extremely difficult. Intel does the right thing and forgoes a 2009 projection and with it, the CEO reminds internal and external constituencies that there is work to be done during the downturn:

“Intel has weathered difficult times in the past, and we know what needs to be done to drive our success moving forward,” Paul S. Otellini, chief executive at Intel, said in a statement.

Most companies focus on both strategic and financial goals. This year is different and all but the most basic financial goals (=positive cash flow) are out the window. For managers, we’ve reached a time to focus on the strategic, non-financial targets like picking the right fields of play, ROMI, innovation relevance, organizational alignment and market share.