Category: Authenticity

How do you browse the blogosphere? Are you a fan of RSS or do you prefer to read where the mouse takes you? Are you an A-List reader or do you restrict yourself to a topic of interest?

And if you are a blogger too, then how do you build your audience, generate traffic, link-in with others with whom you share an interest or passion? How do you become known as a player rather than a spectator? What is your strategy … do you STREAK across a well-known field and take the consequences, or do you work away as one voice in the crowd?

I was thinking through all this as I read a great post today over at Ariel’s blog. It made me ask myself … is it true that NEW bloggers are only as good as their last post? Am I only as good as my last witty comment on someone else’s blog?

It’s funny in a way, this blogging lark. You can become obsessed by the number of comments and emails, site visits, statistics and entry and exit pages … but there really is some value in looking through the details. I love the way that I get visits from all over the world, from cities and towns that I have never heard of before. I love the way comments appear out of nowhere. But I am equally interested in how people arrive here and where they have come from.

Because blog content is not necessarily accessed via a chronology … the history or archive of your blog can be always present for any reader who happens to stumble upon you. So really you are only as famous as ANY post … or only as famous as your BEST post. For example, I continue to get links through to this post even though it was written some time ago. Is it my best? I can’t tell … but it certainly works for some!

S.

Oh, and by the way … fame is always relative.

The blogosphere is filled with lists. There are "top 5" lists, there are "top 10" lists. There the "best 3" lists and the "worst 3" lists. It seems that we are all destined to create list after list for our readers to stew over, comment on and discuss.

Most of the time these posts annoy me. I do not like the list. I am anti-list really (except when I need to organise myself). I think this comes from some strange desire to abolish lists and rules … a last dash of anarchy in a world of order. But then I read this post by Russell Davies and it gave me a new perspective.

It seems that I have the list all wrong … it is not trying to capture or define me, it is a way for me to define myself! Russell links to this GREAT site where you can order a T-shirt carrying your favourite list. Not only can you put your favourite Top 5 list on your blog, but you can now wear it as a T-shirt. So, if you are being truthful and dare to write a REAL Top 5 for your blog (you know, the kind where you TRUTHFULLY put forward a Top 5 that MATTERS to YOU) there is a chance to now wear your heart not on your sleeve, but on your chest. Cool!

So what would mine be? A little boring. Probably all about lists.

S

PS … and if you read Russell’s excellent post, I think Lego is cool … but Bionicle is waaay cool.

If you blog, as I do, for fun (for the stimulation and  the joy of engaging with people in a world of ideas), then it is easy to rant. It is easy to take shots at others. It is easy to stand on a soapbox and to put forth a PRINCIPLED and idealistic view of the world. As a modern day Descartes may say "I blog therefore I am".

BUT … it is quite a different kettle of fish to blog professionally, or to blog on behalf of your company. I am not referring to those evangelists who help present a little human softness to the vast multinational corporations … I am referring to those bloggers who write and maintain their blogs as an extension to their business. For these people the thoughts and ideas that they publish on their blog can both bring in new business or lose it. The authenticity that they seek and work towards in their ideation and their writing could be the very thing that keeps  potential clients away. Furthermore, this principled approach to authenticity can also cause a real work dilemma — which clients do you accept, which do you turn away from, and how do you draw the line?

The Staufenbergers have recently been wresting with this challenge. The money was good but, in the end, they decided NOT to take on a project where the client was in a sector that they didn’t want to work in. There are a couple of interesting points around this (and please go read the article):

• Standing by your principles costs you — when you are a small agency/business this will cost you REAL money. If you have won the work, then you would have invested in the pitch … and you may have foregone other work to do so. And that means it costs you DOUBLE.
• You feel childish — when you decline work you start to doubt yourself. You feel childish and perhaps churlish. You wonder whether you are standing by your principles … and can go so far as to question them, belittle them and begin to self-censor. AND all this happend BEFORE you call your client.
• Your feeling of wellness grows — after you have answered the 100 questions asked by the voices in your head, and after you have spoken with your client, you begin to feel happy. Your sense of wellness grows and continues to strengthen almost immediately (and it lasts).

I must say, full marks to The Staufenbergers. Not only have they shown that it is important to make a personal and professional stand from time to time, but they also demonstrate a firm sense of their abilities — if they did not think that they would have an impact on the people in the marketplace, then there would have been no dilemma.

Makes you wonder though, where would YOU draw the line?

S.

How hard is it to turn a company around? How difficult is it to re-set your strategy, make the hard decisions and then rally your team? How difficult is it to take advice from your customers about your products, services … and even your staff? The folks over at Three Minds point towards Ford’s Bold Moves website which aims to document just such a turnaround.

The company (or their agency) has done a pretty good job of setting up a lot of interactive elements … but there is still the feint stench of control lurking in the background. I would have liked to have seen more "open" blog elements such as trackbacks and anonymous commenting. C’mon Ford, you can always use an approval cycle if you are worried about the comments. Also, it would be nice to be able to link through to those avid Ford fans … just to see if they’re real.

You see, telling an authentic story isn’t just about YOU … it is about your customers too.

I am off to Taiwan tomorrow, first thing. Never been before, so it should be interesting. More to come, I am sure!

Over the last ten years there have been some great advances in technology. We now have video conferencing straight from our desktops, video phone calls via 3G phones, realtime collaborative applications such as Campfire and instant messaging from YahooMSN. But it doesn’t matter how much technology we throw at our customers, they all want to meet face to face.

Kathy Sierra talks about the way that seeing Radiohead live changed the way that her daughter, Skylar, views (and listens to) the Radiohead CDs in Kathy’s collection. The product remains the same, but the experience of the product has changed profoundly. There has been a layering of experience, recognition and pleasure that has now been transferred onto the unchanged product — meaning that one performance by Radiohead has changed NOT the product but the USERS.

I love this story. It reminds me of similar concerts by Nick Cave, The Go Betweens, Sonic Youth, Indigo Girls, Midnight Oil and many other bands that I attended years ago. All of these concerts made me re-listen to my CDs and records (yes, vinyl … and I still have them!). On the other hand, a very poor concert by a much-loved REM made me relegate the CDs to the back of the cupboard.

Live performance can work both ways. It can transform and amaze and it can also disappoint.

When it comes to marketing and communication, we can spend a great deal of time and effort in developing a messaging strategy, implementing just the right design, crafting the copy and timing the delivery. And because I quite like writing, I can often become lazy, choosing to write an email over making a phone call. But sometimes, it is better to make a call and arrange a face to face meeting.

In fact, it is ALWAYS better to meet face to face for one simple reason — the need to communicate. Communication does not happen in a vacuum … there are a whole range of signals, moods, nuances etc that you send and receive during a conversation. These can be exceptionally subtle and may only be understood on a subconscious level — I am sure we all have stories about finishing a meeting and exclaiming "that was a great meeting" — but not have anything tangible to base this on (like a signature on a piece of paper). What we are reading in these instances are all the non-verbal cues, we are sensing the good will, the exuberance and positive energy that was exchanged. We are reading the PERFORMANCE of the meeting.

This is why face to face wins (see also this great post by Kathy Sierra). It is why a great performance by your favourite artist can change your perception. It is about giving more than 100 percent. It is about creating an authentic moment that can create the opportunity for change. Such a moment needs trust, commitment and open communication. It needs a human face.

S.

The question of "what is cool" has kept me thinking now for a couple of days … and interestingly has begun popping up everywhere I look.

I was checking out John Moore’s Brand Autopsy blog and saw some links through to Brains on Fire, so I thought I would mosey over and take a look. And sure enough, here it was again — this time in the guise of "campaigns vs movements", referring to the difference between traditional advertising and word of mouth.

From my point of view, I was seeing that campaigns are cool, but movements are authentic. The campaign is aimed at someone (at me, or you) and it gives us something to talk about with friends, colleagues or other bloggers. But a movement is something that I am part of (or not) — it requires a choice, an engagement, a position. A movement asks us to think about where we belong. It requires us to make an authentic decision.

Do you know where you belong?

S.

OK, sorry … two Russell posts in a row … but he has me thinking again.

He asked a simple question — what is "cool? — and there are heaps of responses and comments. And many of the comments indicate the challenge of defining something that is transitory. What is cool today, afterall, is likely to be uninteresting tomorrow (or at least for a few years until it becomes retro).

But marketers the world over are interested in what is cool. It the next best thing to being authentic. But at the same time, it is sexier than being authentic, because there is a sense of anguish, of existential decay about "cool" that "authentic" simply avoids. All sounding a bit esoteric?

It reminds me of studying philosophy and also theatre. Where the two intersect is in the concept of "presence" — the point for the actor where personal identity and performance identity fuse to create something that is far more powerful than 1+1. Even more confusing? Not really … you know it when you see it — think back on a performance of your favourite band or actor and there will be a turning point in your appreciation that corresponds with a moment of "presence". This is what gives you goosebumps. It is the moment that you clap or cheer unexpectedly. It is the moment that is not just about the message, the messenger or the audience, but about all three. THAT is what it means to be authentic. Being COOL is about telling the story about how YOU were there at that point and experienced it.

Hmm … makes me think that COOL is about story and AUTHENTIC is about being. I’d love to know what Johnnie Moore thinks of this!?

S.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and been surprised at the old person looking back at you? Is it just a male thing?
At his 60th birthday party, my father-in-law described this dilemma. He wonders every morning what happened to the face of the 18 year old who used to greet him while shaving. It is not that he feels all that different — sure he has more knowledge and understanding of the world — but his enthusiasm and excitement for each and every day has not waned.
Russell Davies has been asked to speak at a Youth Marketing conference. It is no surprise that he has been asked, considering his profile, expertise and insight … yet he was struck by a similar paradox. He was "trying not to laugh at my own ridiculousness".
Yet it is PRECISELY this ability to laugh at himself, to view his position through the eyes of his audience (OK they will be marketers not "teens"), that makes his insight, writing and ideas so sought after. And that fact that he can generously share this with the world will make him ok in the eyes of today’s young people … they can smell a fake at 50 paces. The key is authenticity.
S.

Over the last five years a number of people that I studied with have begun appearing in the media. At first, these appearances were limited to "guest spots" or articles and so on, but they all seem to be consolidating their experience and expertise (hopefully we all are).

What makes this weird is that in seeing people that I once knew (very well), it sometimes makes me feel connected to them in the way that I once was. Tonight, for example, I was watching Adam Hills on Spicks and Specks. Now, I have not seen him for many years, but one of his trademarks as a comedian is his ability to authentically reach his audience … and after a heavy day, it was strangely comforting to hear and see him on TV.

It made me think about how challenging it can be to remain authentic while working with a medium like TV. Part of the reason that I connect with Adam is through a shared history, which is now more to do with storytelling than with reality, but the same can be said for our relationships with other celebrities … the more that they are in our homes, the more we feel emotionally engaged with them. And while this makes ME feel weird, I bet it makes the celebrities feel even weirder … because of course, TV is a one way storytelling medium.

And even though it made me feel weird tonight … it also made me feel kind of happy. Now THAT is weird.

S.