Would You Take Martin Shkreli's Business?

Perp Walk

So the most obvious story in marketing this week was the federal takedown of ex-pharma CEO Martin Shkreli. And while it's a little galling that he wasn't taken down for corporate malfeasance in his day job, but fraud against rich people in his side work, most folks are just happy that he might go away for 20 years, and resigned his post at Turing Pharmaceuticals. Proof of karma, right?

Well, maybe, but I'm not entirely convinced. Shkreli wasn't brought low by his poor public behavior or his ethically compromised behavior. Rather, he was taken down by garden variety criminal behavior (allegedly). His company wasn't punished in the marketplace until the actual handcuffs moment happened. (Oh, and props to the little weasel for being unshaven and in a hoodie when the perp walk happened. Way to look the part.)

But the real point of order here is that we had someone who seemingly did not have any public compunction about being vilified, or fear that he'd be brought low from the attention. Rather, Shkreli seemed to delight in trolling his detractors on social media, and to pour gasoline on the fire with conspicuous consumption decisions like buying a $2 million album, then making sure the world knew about it, and that he also had no immediate plans to listen to it.

Honestly, the entire episode seemed more like a calculated move, like a wrestling heel... but there was no crowd of people paying top dollar to see the villain get his. Instead, there was a kind of fame that seemed to appeal to the CEO, and while you can just brush this aside as the decisions of a lone psychopath, it's harder to claim single exception status in a world with other, well, reality television influenced careers.

Maybe this is just what happens when the top strata of society is made into its own social phenomenon, or what occurs in the all or nothing world that is created with swipe left / swipe right dichotomies. Perhaps it was t'was ever thus, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's pronouncement that the rich are different than you and I from "The Great Gatsby" is just made more obvious in a fragmented channel mix.

Or, perhaps, we're just beyond the ability to publicly shame any more, and the next Shkreli will be along any day now, either in his old consumer category or in another, because outrage is easy to generate and a reaction is what's needed now in marketing and advertising, even if most of the reaction is negative.

As a consultant, it's business that I want no part of, because I don't think it does well for your long-term business. Or your health, conscience, or soul.

But if the choice is stay in business without virtue, or feed your family with compromise?

No one ever said your professional choices would always be easy, or obvious...

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Questions Without Answers

It's Very Welcoming

So there's a lovely moment that hit my social feed today from Survey Monkey UK, as a small reminder to us that the British are Very Different Indeed. Or, at least, their adtech people are. Let's get into the details on this.

It turns out that only 12% of survey responders admit to having ads sway their purchase decision. Which leads Mansoor Malik, managing director UK of SurveyMonkey, to say: “Christmas is a great time of year, and we wouldn’t be a grinch that says brands shouldn’t contribute to the festive mood. However, we must be honest and recognise that if campaigns aren’t driving sales, they’re not meeting their core objective. Clearly, most brands today undergo expensive audience testing before running ads, but our findings suggest there are a few simple questions that still need to be answered by any brand before they commit to a campaign.”

While we're asking questions, I have a few to add.

1) Can we get the 12% that said yes to ads puppies? I feel that they would appreciate puppies, and take care of them.

2) Are survey respondents in the UK hooked up to lie detectors and electroshock inducers?

3) Is it illegal in the UK to lead the witness, so questions that obviously do it somehow, well, don't?

Surveys that ask questions like this are less than worthless, because, well, no one admits that they are so weak minded that all it took was an ad to get them to change their mind. Of course they said quality or price; those are tangible reasons that speak to intellect, and very few of us will admit otherwise, even to an anonymous survey.

What would have been a better question to ask? What parts of an advertising mix were remembered. Whether or not certain ad formats were better, or worse, at making a person think a product or service was worth spending more to acquire. If there was such a thing as hearing from an advertiser too often, so much that it kept you from making a purchase.

You know, questions that actually give us something close to an actionable move, other than just another pointless data point of how No One Likes Ads.

Because ads aren't meant to be liked. They are meant to sell stuff. And when you stop advertising? Generally, you stop selling as much. Kind of how this stuff works, really...

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Five Steps To Take After A False Metrics Issue

Many Numbers, No Friends

Here's something that should never happen, and all too often does, in marketing and advertising: your metrics come under question. Either a portion of response isn't being counted, some attributed revenue error has occurred from crossed wires, a keypunch error occurs and does major damage, reporting from a third party source fails you, and so on, and so on.

Let's also assume it's not your fault, and you still have a gig. What should your next move be?

1) Resist the urge to go off on a multi-state killing spree, even though no jury of your peers would give you anything more than time in Country Club Prison as a punishment.

Well, mostly because marketing and advertising people are rarely on juries, and mostly because it's very unlikely that any of your victims are to blame for the situation. Besides, it will get misinterpreted. If you must rage, I suggest weeding. Very aggressive weeding.

2) Wait to publicize the problem until you have a plan. 

Bad news spreads fast, but bad news with no greater subsequent action of "Well, I've told you about this, so now you can feel as bad about it as I do" is just irresponsible. If your numbers are getting adjusted, or previously known points are no longer known, you want to own that, rather than have it given to you.

3) Find the benefits -- and yes, there will be benefits. 

Are there expenditures that you can now cut, bullet points that you can leverage in negotiations, or others in the industry that are operating under the now discredited assumptions? These need to be brought to your management's attention immediately, not because every cloud has a silver lining, but because they are opportunities that should be exploited. Fortune favors the brave.

4) Develop contingencies, back ups, and useful suspicions. 

Even if no one is blaming you for this adventure, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be thinking about steps to take to make sure it doesn't happen again. Maybe more supervision of keypunch work, espionage work to see what rates and practices the rest of the industry is following (so you don't find yourself at a suspicious level again), or a third-party audit to give everything a sanity test. Oh, and try to make sure that everyone remember this the next time that some troublesome number is taken as gospel. Never let a crisis go to waste, folks.

5) Try to look at this from a future perspective. 

Finding errors is never fun, but the nice part is that once they are found, you don't make them any more. Doing marketing and advertising is kind of like driving a tank; if your view and gauges aren't showing reality, unplanned things are going to happen. Life is better with planned things. And certainly a lot easier on the other vehicles in the parking lot, and the fauna.

Anything to add? Would love to hear from you in the comments. Remember, the truth will set you free!

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.