Doing the medium – market, message match – 3

B2B, Character, Marketing, media, medium, messaging

Assuming you agree with my opinion – that I shared in the first two posts on this topic – that we should first look at the market and then decide on the medium and message, today is a take on the personality or characteristics of each medium. Again you may not agree with my view, but this view has helped me characterise what kind of message would be good for what kind of a medium.

But before we get into that, there’s some clarification with respect to what I consider as a message. The message and the medium kinda go hand-in-hand and the characteristic of the medium will put constraints on the type of message. Since I primarily deal with B2B, most of my terminology would be related to that kind of customers. However even in the B2c segment you would have similar kind of messages.

When it comes to B2B, a message could be a white paper, a case study, a webinar on a given topic, an email, a physical seminar or event for a specific product/service, a physical or virtual conference to showcase the company and a whole lot of others. The size of the message could vary, depending on the medium you are using as well as the duration. So a webinar could be 45 minutes talking about the features and benefits (the message) or it could be a full day workshop , where you are teaching the nitty gritty of the product (another kind of message). Since the workshop is more long form your message will need to be designed accordingly.

Now coming to what I started with, each medium has its own character. A conference is a good place to send a message en-mass while an email is something more personal one-to-one. An email expects a response, to take the next step, a conference is primarily one way. Like a bill board is a one way medium in the B2C segment.

So when you are sending an email its got to be personal, short and expecting a response. On the other hand a webinar would be something which is longer with minimal interaction planned, expect maybe at the end. You can’t use the message that you would put out in the webinar in an email and vice-versa.

So device your message based on the medium that you intend to use.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Life balances out

Character, Gratitude, possibility thinking

When we are going through challenging times , we tend to get into self pity mode and wonder why bad things happen to us. At this time we feel others are having a whale of a time. Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

On the other hand when things are going well for us we don’t even bother to note that others could be facing challenging times.

Like the seasons, spring follows winter, winter follows autumn and autumn follows summer, in life also times keep changing for everyone. Gautum Buddh , was born as a prince, but when he saw so much suffering he renounced his kingdom in search of a deeper meaning to life. He actually tried to find one household where there had never been death, never been any misery but couldn’t find any.

This happened about 3000 years ago. Its true even today. But in general humanity has evolved so much over the centuries, because inspite of all the suffering there are people who through grit and determination fight through odds to move forward. Even these people have their fair share of challenges, but its the way they handle the challenges that makes the difference. Man kind has moved forward so much in those 3000 years because of these kind of people.

Some people face challenges at some phase of their lives, some at others. There was a period of about 12 years when there was nothing which was going right for me. Butt when I look back, that period also made me more appreciative of what I have. It made me appreciative of the fact that God has been kind to me because I have seen people with even more challenges during those times. My brother, his family and my extended family supported me so much during those days that I was able to come out of the situations. It changed and evolved my character.

Today when I talk to my younger team members, when they face challenges, I tell them the same things. I try to give them that same support because at the end of the day life happens “FOR” us not “To” us and it happens to “All of Us”. Time passes, challenges pass. You need to be stedfast in identifying possibilities and moving forward. Life is precious, live it.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

The curve balls that life throws at us

Character, ego, Energy, Fear, Human Brain

Life has a queer way of throwing curve balls (sudden challenges) at us, when we least expect it. That’s why curve balls or googlies (as they are called in the game of cricket) are so effective in getting the person “out”.

Life throws these curve balls to see how prepared we are to handle them and then navigate them and come out a winner. And no one will ever live a life without getting their fare share of curve balls. The type and duration of the challenge may change from person to person but everyone will get them.

Its how people navigate these challenges is what builds character of the person. The bigger the challenges that a person has encountered and successfully managed , more humility the person generally has. Most of the so called “great” people are also some of the most down to earth because of this reason. They recognise the fact that nothing in life is permanent and you never know when things can change within a matter of minutes. That is also one of the reason why, when we are younger we tend to be brash with a lot of ego, but as we grow older, we become more modesthuman

I used to think of the major challenges that life had sent my way and would wonder the typical response “why me”. Then over the years I have read hundreds of books, auto-biographies etc. and one common element in most of them has been the fact that all these people had as many or even more challenges than me.

That’s when I realised the significance of what Tony Robbins says “life happens for me not to me”. I need to build the capabilities to handle the “curve” balls. As I build the capabilities, I will become more successful.

Here I will tie it in with what I wrote in my post yesterday. Fearing the curve ball is a game which your brain plays on you. Most curve balls are not life threatening, but your brain makes you feel scared , because it wants to conserve energy , to use the energy when your survival is at stake.

If you can tame your brain to handle these situations and build capabilities, you can move forward at a much faster and higher level. As they say – a plane will not be able to take -off if it does not get resistance from air. It uses the resistance to get the lift -off.

Till next time then – build your capabilities and love to play the curve balls.

Carpe Diem!!!

TRUST

Character, Competence, Marketing, messaging, Trust

I have always believed that you need to create trust with the buyer. If the buyers, in the case of B2B, do not trust you (first) and the technology (second) they will not buy from you.

I had a moment of reckoning when I was reading the book The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey.

For me trust was always a factor of honesty and integrity or what can also be called character. If I was honest about how I dealt with others in my transactions and if I did what I said I would do, then I could be trusted. Over a period of time people notice this and start trusting you.

Being from marketing, I always equated Branding with a promise that people could trust.

The reckoning was that Trust has another component- Competence – the ability to get the job done. If you don’t have the ability to get a job done when you said you will get it done, then people won’t trust you.

A very good example the author gives is about a surgeon. You may believe someone has character but would you let her operate on you if she doesn’t have Competence. You will trust a surgeon if you see she has Competence (her degree, license etc.) and if after checking her earlier patients you identify Character.

The implications for marketing are tremendous of this statement. You not only need to show character, but you also need to show competence in what you do. In all your messaging you need to bring out both the aspects before expecting the prospect to interact with you.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!