The Best Present

Present and Present

Christmas is a multi-day event for my family. The day before is filled with wrapping, decorations, and making the staging area just right. The day itself is for immediate family, with our group of four exchanging presents. Later in the day, we usually visit local family, with a few more presents to exchange. The next day or so, grandmothers visit, and those gifts are also passed around. It sometimes feels like overkill, but for the most part it works, and everyone gets more or less what they want. (This year, for me? Really good socks and a treadmill. I live a very exciting life.)

However, this year was different, because in addition to taking care of our own needs, we also did something altruistic and deep. I'm not going to get into the details of it, because they are private, but our commitment here was more significant than we usually do, despite coming at the end of a highly challenging year.

What I've discovered from the act was that it has stayed with me, even in small moments and unoccupied times. Where you might find seasonal depression, concerns about crass capitalism, or worries that the kids are being spoiled, now I've got the memory of giving. Instead of obsessing about how we're going to make what we need to make, or just how short the year has been, it's more of a confidence that, well, we did that, and it will come back in time and in measure.

It's kind of like the counter-balance to grief. We had a beloved pet pass away far too soon a while back, and I can make myself feel bad just about any time I care to, just by remembering that day. But now, I can make myself feel good, just by remembering the gift. If you are of a means to do so, I can't recommend the presence of this kind of gift in your life highly enough.

And with that, I'm going to call an end to 2015 posts on the M&AD blog and on LinkedIn, and see you all in a week. It's time to clear out the fitness goals, work on the nooks and crannies of the house that have missed my previous attention, binge on some Netflix (I've finally cracked open "House of Cards", and by heaven, it's great), play video games with the kids and get away from the writing addiction for a little while. We'll be back for the usual 3X weekly schedule in 2016, and as a final gift to you, this: we got through the entire month of December without resorting to a listicle or calendar-driven futures pieces. Of such small moments are holiday miracles, and memories, made.

* * * * *

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.

Selling Fear

Bad things to sell on

Read something interesting today; a year preview for 2016 that was hopeful, but with science. Or, at least, math. Let me explain, and don't worry, there's marketing and advertising later.

The author cited studies that quantified the standard of living in both the richest and poorest areas of the globe, and noted how in the latter, while the standards were (obviously) much lower, they also resembled, well... the standard of living in, say, America in the early 1960s. So the next time you think about sub-Saharan Africa, where the public image is nothing but bloodshed, famine and charitable solicitations, keep in mind that while things are bad there, they certainly are a lot better than what they used to be.

My apologies if this dulls your charitable ardor. Also, America in the early '60s was a lot harder than remembered, especially if you were in the poor parts of it, and a minority. Anyway, you get my point.

A similar story can be told about bloodshed through combat. Per capita, this just used to be much more likely to kill you; now, about 5% of the earlier rate. World poverty, literacy rates, rights for women, what it's like to be a member of the LGBTQ community, the prevalence of functioning democracies -- all on the upswing, all much less awful than they used to be, all good when looked at not through the ebbs and flows of individual news cycles, but decades. Continued progress must be fought for, but even the most cynical among us have to admit that some progress has been made.

So why does everyone seem so convinced that the times are always getting worse? And not just for those that feel threatened about the improvements made for others?

Well, because humans love us some drama, and good times are very bereft of those. We also have unprecedented communications and connectivity, which means that bad news travels and finds every audience. It's also made the world more or less unfiltered, with the best and worst of humanity all just a click away. But the actual numbers? On the upswing.

And that's where we get back to the work. I've worked on any number of ads in my life -- honestly, probably in the four figure range of individual clients -- thanks to several posts that handled big numbers. Sometimes, those clients had unique selling propositions, great offers, a compelling story to tell. Less often but still relatively common, they had none of these things, and sold more on price, or marketing trickery. And when you had none of that, the last and worst thing to sell on? Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. That if you used a competitor, you would be making a mistake, would never enjoy your purchase because it reminded you of that mistake, and that you would eventually be unhappy, or inefficient, or laid low by the whiff.

It's a terrible thing to sell on, frankly. It always felt wrong in my core, never worked for very long, and didn't make me happy, even when the client was pleased. It was the gig, and work sometimes involves things that you have to do anyway, but I was always glad when the project passed, and I could get back to something that fed, rather than drained, my soul.

I have to think that this isn't an unusual reaction, that the pros who do this kind of work all the time are doing damage to their health, both mental and otherwise. And that better choices exist, both professionally and personally.

I'm blessed to have made some really nice choices in my life this holiday season. My greatest wish is that you have the opportunity to do the same. If not now, soon.

* * * * *

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.

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...

* * * * *

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...

* * * * *

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!

                                                                * * * * *

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.

Making It Better: Seven Marketing Ideas for Gymnastics Meets

Very Important Gear

As a parent of a competitive gymnast, I've spent many hours at my daughter's meets over the past three years. If you've never had the pleasure, let me describe how this works. You pay to place your kid in a class. You pay to have her on a team, complete with the shockingly expensive team leotard that she'll be constantly pulling at. You pay to get into the actual meet itself. And then you duck hours of lame lottery pitches, cold concessions, and candygrams and stuffed animals that you can give to buttress the confidence of your athlete. All while spending four to five hours of stress, waiting to watch your kid perform for less than ten minutes, on four different pieces of apparatus.

Needless to say, there's a lot of dead time. And more than enough time for me to think about ways to make it better. Let's go to the list!

1) Computers and projection systems exist. Use them. Every meet I've ever been to has come down to people with clipboards writing down scores, and way too much time waiting around at the end of the meet so that someone can do math, badly and slowly, before handing out awards. All of which is very exciting to the kid for her first meet, but after about two or three times through the ringer, they are pretty much done on wanting to wait around. Have the awards ready to go as soon as the last kid performs, because every parent alive will adore you for this. Failing that, mail 'em.

2) Set up your gym for prime photography and video. With everyone having the ability to get performances on video, and professionals in short supply or need, there should be a simple and defined place for people to shuffle in and out and get their video done. Enough with having the heads and bodies of other people getting in and out of shots. Just set up walkways and defined spaces. This shouldn't be hard, and we've never seen it.

3) Go beyond 50-50 tickets. Honestly, from the folks I've seen at these events, scratcher tickets would sell. So would video poker in the lobby. We've got a lot of time to kill here, people. If you gave a concession split to a vendor on this, you'd make a mint, and add a little more poignancy and tragedy to someone's losing day. Why is Daddy crying? Because he's so proud of you. So much that he's going on a diet for a few months.

4) Actually make Wifi work. I know, I know, I'm asking for the world here, but this never works, and drives everyone insane the entire time they are trapped in your gym.

5) Premium seating. I'm not talking about actual front row stuff, because to be honest, you should move around during the meet as your kid goes to various apparatus. But if someone wants to rent seat cushions to supplement those terrible folding chairs? Ca-ching.

6) More freedom with the candygrams. Why limit messages to how proud you are of your kid, or how much you love them? Let's hear some options like how much the other teams stink, how in a world where death and taxes are the only constant, her beam routine is the reason for hope, and that life itself is very much like the vault. Let's add some head scratchers to these, please.

7) Juke box heroism. Sure, you can do your floor exercise to your preferred music, but can you do it to music that's been chosen at random, with special challenge tracks brought in to see if you can avoid laughing? Add some drama to this. And if the kid can hit her spots to Barney the Dinosaur or Metallica, I'm even more impressed.

Bonus - Liquor license. And maybe vendors. Beer Me!

Got any others to add to the mix? Feel free to add them in the comments. I've got many more meets before the season is over...

                                        * * * * *

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.

Global and Local Change

Gets License, Facial Hair

If you read about Millennials and their buying habits, you've heard how there's been a sea change in their thinking and needs in the past few years. Gone, we are told, is the all-consuming interest for their own cars, replaced by the desire to be ferried around while they text in peace. Failing the Parent (or Grandparent) Valet Service, we're told that Uber and Lyft are just the ticket, especially because such a move is summoned by the all-powerful smartphone. Independence and the open road? Meaningless, compared to the wonders of cyberspace. Oh, and by the way, Dad, no one uses the word cyberspace anymore.

They also cast a fair amount of side eye, by the way, at the idea of self-driving cars. No one's seen that where I live, and you generally aren't going to be able to sell kids on bleeding edge technology. Besides, the mechanisms of the local school system codify drivers education as a credited course, with simulators and everything. It's very serious business, Dad. Cars matter.

And as for the new tech... well, maybe somewhere else. Especially in places where ride sharing services are ubiquitous, or the kids make their own money and pay for everything. (That place is, I am sure, Parent Utopia.) Which isn't exactly my neck of suburbia, or the experience of either of my siblings, both of whom have auto-ready kids. For them, the rite of passage is the same mix of excitement, terror and tedium that it was for us, lo those many years ago, when we became of automotive age.

This is, alas, the nature of change. I don't doubt that in the Bay Area, or maybe the boroughs of New York City, or other enlightened areas with massive ride-sharing penetration and good mass transit, there's less appeal than there used to be for cars. After all, the median age for new car purchase is now in the mid '40s and climbing ever higher, and there's got to be something to all of those rising demographic numbers.

Just not in the here and now, or in my personal zip code. (Couldn't get her to sign off on the hoverboard a few months ago, either. Maybe my kid's just a Luddite. Or has secret stock in an auto insurance agency.)

                                                                  * * * * *

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.

When Many Forms Of Money Are Speech

Your Speech Isn't Green Enough

It's not my place, as a marketing and advertising consultant, to show my hand in politics. In my time as an ad man, I've worked both sides of the aisle, on both a candidate and commerce level, and at the core of the work, there's something of the ethos of a trial lawyer at work. You make the best case for your client, and trust in the marketplace of ideas to prove the merits of your argument. Whether or not I believe in, or patronize, a product or service should not ever be obvious to my client, because if we're in that mental space, we're in a place that's far from doing good work.

So this isn't where I join in the cavalcade of people who give you their opinion on the phenomenon that is Donald Trump, or offer up my take on the latest statement that has garnered headlines, awareness, approval and condemnation. If, for no other reason, that I'd like this column to have more of a shelf life than a fruit fly. But I will note that, from a marketing and advertising standpoint only, what's going on here is fairly revolutionary.

Thanks to social media, Trump no longer needs the media to communicate with his audience, but communicating with just that audience isn't, of course, enough in an era of fragmentation. What's needed is for the media to take these moments and reflect them to a wider audience.

This is, on some level, paradoxical. Trump's difference as a candidate, for good and ill, is that he is independently wealthy on a scale that differs from his opposition, so much so that he is able to speak off the cuff about, seemingly, anything. We've had candidates like this before -- Ross Perot is the obvious historical parallel -- but unlike Perot, Trump hasn't actually spent that hard on this endeavour, or even had to collect much from his flock.

Instead, it's the money that he's made in the first place, along with the decades of playing for media time, that qualified Trump's output as news. That output has produced undeniable ratings, to the point where Trump tried to leverage the higher ratings from his appearance into a paid fee, beyond what any other candidate would receive. (That, in and of itself, is revolutionary, since every candidate up to now has seen enough benefit from appearing on camera in the first place to not worry about also getting paid for it.)

Finally, it's meant that no network has been willing to just stop covering the candidate, because to do so would be to court lower ratings, let alone risk the ire of his supporters, or the candidate himself... with, of course, every other network willing to give air to the fire.

There's been some signs of weak polling for Trump in the past week or so, so maybe actual voting will stop the money -- err, speech. But there's a sense that the toothpaste has left the tube, and that the next political war won't be fought with the air power of big media spends. Instead, it might be the millions of unpaid voices on social media, all of which, of course, wouldn't have been there in the first place without the money.

Amazing system, this.

                                                           * * * * *

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.

A Krampus Miracle

Hello, Horned One

This weekend, a movie opened with very little buzz, during a time of the year that is usually death for new releases, while being opposed by popular holdovers. It wasn't expected to do well, with most observers thinking that it would be likely to make less than $10 million. Given the lack of "A" level talent, and the usually strong foreign market for effects-heavy movies, it wouldn't be a disaster, but no one was expecting a major win for Universal.

Instead, "Krampus", the odd mix of horror and comedy that plays off ancient Austrian Christmas myths that speak to the other side of St. Nick., is going to bring in $16 million, second only to the "Hunger Games" juggernaut. As it only cost $15 million to make, and has already pulled in $3.3 million in overseas gross, it's highly likely to turn a solid profit, especially if there is any holdover to the audience in Week Two.

So how did it happen? Well, start with the actual subject matter. The Krampus myths have been making headway for years now, with parades happening in Europe, mentions in mainstream media, and an ever-growing desire among people to personalize the holidays. Next, move to the timing. If you've ever needed a reason to question the status quo, consider the wisdom of why horror movies don't do well in December, because it's not exactly something you can point a lot of data at.

Third, there's the possibility that the movie's actually good. (I actually saw it with a friend on Friday, and it's a bit of a mess with a need for editing, but I've had worse times.) Fourth, there's the usual demographic cross-matching, with a varied cast to bring in multiple classes. And finally, there's just the fact that horror movies, as a rule, always tend to do a little better than expected, because they fly under the cultural radar. Horror movies don't get award buzz or high-end word of mouth. Instead, they sell tickets.

So, kudos to "Krampus" -- proof that trying something new and different is almost always its own reward. (Besides, it's probably best to say nice things to the dear fellow. No need to risk a visit.)

                                                           * * * * *

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.

Seasonal Gifts For Your Creative Team

Santa Brings The Smokes

T'is the season... for uninspired office Secret Santa moments. These can be particularly troublesome when you draw the short straw and have to shop for a creative. Which is why I'm here to help! Without any moment of cynicism or sarcasm, no no. And with that, on to the ideas!

* * * * *

Copywriter: Depending on the relative prosperity of your place of business, this can range anywhere from a pack of smokes to an ironic typewriter. You also can't go wrong with a threadbare peacoat, or a print of their favorite writer at work. But for my money, a signed copy of something from a dead famous author shows real thought and warmth, and also underscores the idea that they won't be recognized for their genius until after they are able to profit from it. Seasonal depression is a given for these folks, so you might as well make it poignant!

Real gift: Movie gift card. Every copywriter has a screenplay in the pipe, and hence, a dream of actual prosperity.

Designer: Since everyone lives and dies with computer stuff now, it's important to pretend otherwise, and give styluses, paints, exacto knives and so on. They are just dying to get back to that real feel, and the fact that they will never, ever have time in the day to do that doesn't mean anything when it comes to gifting.

Real gift: Craft store gift card. They'll go in for the paints, but leave with something they'll actually use. Like pipe cleaners! Can't ever have enough pipe cleaners.

Creative director: This is usually a designer that has been given the sorry task of herding other designers, which means the holidays are special for them just for the joy of getting away from these people for a few days. Your gift ideas are to help give this person the illusion or memory of being somewhere else, or the ability to reset their minds when the day has gotten away from them. I'd go with one of those little mini zen gardens with the cute little rakes, or maybe a bonsai tree to mangle.

Real gift: Booze. Good booze; they are directors, after all.

Traffic manager: Every single traffic person I have ever met, or you will ever meet, is unable to function without a delicate balance of caffeine and nicotine. Find out which delivery system is their preference -- this won't be hard, the evidence will be all over their cubicle -- and lay into a mighty supply. There's all kinds of coffee snob stuff out there, and chewables. Go nuts; they already are.

Real gift: If you want to be nice, a spa trip that they will either never use or re-gift. If you want to be appreciated, get 'em their drugs.

Developer / coder: What with the turmoil in these worlds between Flash, HTML5, mobile sizing, responsive design and more on the way, these folks have had the full Chinese curse of living in interesting times. Assuming this is still a job, and not just outsourced or destroyed by technology. You can try a gift certificate to a continuing education course, a gift card to a tech book store, or even some fun Think Geek swag for their desk, but where you should be going is...

Real gift: Booze. Lots of booze. And then more booze.


                                                                 * * * * *

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 visit the Web site. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Ads That Work... Too Well?

Quick one today, because I'm fighting off illness and over scheduled. (Also, no image, because various forces are messing with me hard, the way that always happens when you are fighting off a bug. Not appreciated.)

Does anyone else consider the timing of the American Medical Association's call for a ban on broadcast ads for over-the-counter (OTC) medications curious?

I'm probably overstating this on the simplicity, but I think it's a simple case of OTC ads taking up the place of daily fantasy sports sites on NFL ads.

You remember those, right? They were only on every 90 seconds for the better part of two months, so much so that public irritation with the businesses probably accelerated the legal action brought against them in many states. (Well, that and the fact that the sites are clearly gambling, and corrupt, and only were made legal through a lobbying loophole. But I digress.)

Ads on NFL games are many things. Wildly expensive. Shown to tens of millions of viewers. Not skippable, because interest in the game is real time only, for the most part. 30 to 60 seconds long, an eternity in an attention deficit age. The last bankable mass audience. And incredibly memorable, because they are just about the only ads that anyone sees and remembers now.

There's pros and cons of OTC ads. Some studies have shown that patients are better at sticking to a program when they are more bought in, and that the ads do that. Others believe that this is a consumer segment in dire need of legislation and change, with political figures making the industry a target. The ads themselves can seem off-putting, especially when you get into the side effects. And as we've already established, the ads are being viewed.

That's the nature of spotlights; everything is revealed, and there's nowhere to hide. I wouldn't be at all surprised if, like DFS before it, OTC pharma is making the right move in the short term, and the wrong for the long.

                                             * * * * *

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.

Single Metric Madness

Takes Control

Maybe you've seen this pithy little moment of nonsense in your travels around the Net: that you are more likely to be approved to gain admittance to Harvard than to click on a banner ad. Since no one loves ads other than the people who get paid to make them, it's big chuckle time at those foolish people who make ads, or those that use them.

Beyond the silliness of the comparison -- after all, only really bright kids bother to apply to Harvard in the first place, it costs money to do it, it's not as if they get millions of people trying to get in every year, regardless of life situation, and it's not as if you've thought about that rate any other time in your life -- there's also this.

If banners really were such a bad idea, why do so many smart brands run them, and why is such a significant amount of coin spent on them?

The reason is simple; the click is not the true metric of success. What is the true metric of success is the amount of business that's being done, and the banner buy is just part of a balanced marketing and advertising plan. Removing it doesn't make sense, so it stays.

Even from the dubious notion that brand impressions in a banner have no value (which would be unique to advertising) pure direct marketing standpoint, banner click rates are a tip of the iceberg metric. If a user opens up another tab, the banner clearly caused the awareness, but doesn't get credit for the click. If search engine traffic spikes following the display of a banner, it's also pretty obvious it had an impact. But it's not seen in a click rate. Where it is seen is in an A/B test, where a portion of the audience doesn't get the banners, and is measured against the viewed group.

A similar point happens around click rates in email (again, you aren't getting the full value of the impression from increased use of other channels, direct dials from direct mail letters, response rates on business reply post cards, and so on. And even if these single metrics are good, they don't tell the full story, or ensure success. If you run your North American banner in China, you could easily achieve a 10X click rate boost, but if none of that traffic converts, it's pointless.

That's because marketing is more complicated than a single metric. It's a lot of moving pieces on many chessboards, with impacts beyond the known, the easy, the simple. Measuring the simple stuff is good. Knowing the context is harder, and requires more analytics.

Or, failing that, a little faith that there are reasons why smart brands do what they do...

                                                                        * * * * *

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 top right RFP fields. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

True Thanks

The easiest column fodder in the book for people who publish routinely (and, well, this is Post 101, so that's me) is to look to the calendar and grind. The Thanksgiving thanks list, provided it's on your category, is a lay up.

This one, however, is going to be a little bit different, in that I'm going to be a little more candid, and a little less, well, seasonal.

This year, I'm thankful that...

> I no longer rely on online banners to pay the bills.

What a year for digital, honestly. Starting with the slow-moving avalanche that was the end of Flash, going to the growing horror that was maladvertising, and ending with the increasing mainstream nature of ad blocking, and you just had a year unlike any other in the two decades that this has been, well, a thing. I still believe in the medium, if only because there's too much money in it, and I believe that tech will solve many of the problems that it's caused. But for the time being, it's nice -- really nice -- to not have to defend all of the issues of the medium.

> I have no equity in my last gig.

This seems odd, but honestly, I am thankful my options were underwater and pointless to exercise, and the entire sum and substance of the past gig is now something I can brush off my shoulder. There's a value in being able to speak openly about an experience, and to not have to, in any way, "root" for the enterprise. Clean break and move on and no, um, you know, given.

> My network has never been better.

From the designers that we've worked with at M&AD, to the old friends and contacts that I've caught up with, 2015 has been a great year for conversations and renovation. There's no such thing, when you work in the Wild West of digital marketing and advertising, as true job security, but an active and engaged personal network makes that ugly reality a little easier to take. And honestly, some of the people in my world are just game changers. (By the way, if you are looking for people, ping me. Got

> Health, and the health of loved ones.

It's not something you get to just take for granted, honestly. The time commitment to maintaining such things is not an easy thing to carve out, given the other parts of my day. You also get to the point of reading obits for people in your demographic. It's not something anyone gives thanks for, until it's entirely too important. Be grateful.

> The current gig.

It's in a challenging category with great opportunities, in a medium that has exceptional advantages, for a management team that's supportive and respectful, without any dead weight co-workers. The work-life balance is dramatically better, and while there are aspects to it that I'd change, no problems look like they are just going to be the same for, well, years. And I'm learning new stuff. If I can't be thankful for that, I'm doing it wrong.

What are you thankful for this year?

* * * * *

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 top right RFP fields. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Give Thanks, Not Hours

12% approval, 62% disapproval

It may seem like retailers have to be open on Thanks- giving now, the same way that it seems like they have to outsource work to lower-paying countries, limit employment to avoid paying full-time benefits, and cut pay rates by any legal measure. Looking at the dozens of stores that are jumping in on the trend, the tone of what's open is striking: price-first retailers like Walmart, Target, Family Dollar, Kmart, Sears, Dollar General and Big Lots, for the most part. More upscale retailers like Costco, REI and Nordstrom's have done well with PR about how they aren't making the move. Particularly when there's just an online way to shop for those who just have to get their shop on.

A small point: Thanksgiving isn't an expensive holiday. Turkey's pretty cheap, the side dishes don't have to be over the top, and you can honestly feed a lot of people for not very much. There's no reason to bring gifts, spend on accouterments, or do anything more economically difficult than travel, which isn't even universal. It has been, in a country with an increasing amount of sensitivity about such things, a class-free holiday.

In my opinion, it's cruel to remind the disadvantaged of their issues on this day. Putting them in front of others who feel like they have to shop to stretch their dollars on this day is just doubling down on the sadness. What used to be a quiet day before the storm of Q4 is now just another part of Q4, and discourages

It is not my place, as a marketing and advertising consultant, to convince my clients about matters of business ethics. But what I can tell you is that a significant percentage of the audience finds this deplorable, and it's not the portion of the audience that you want to alienate.

Being open during non-traditional hours does not go anything beneficial for your brand. It does not make you seem more inclusive, excited to serve the public, or the place to be for the hottest sales and best options. Instead, it make you look desperate, bottom dollar, unable to make your numbers in any other way, and abusive to your workers. Or unable to hire and retain anyone with any better options.

If your sales are flat with expanded hours, that's not a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, and be thankful that you didn't lose anything to your more aggressive competitors. Instead, it's actually a disaster. Your expenses are up, your turnover for anything but the bottom percentage of your work force will rise, and you've conditioned the buyers to expect even lower prices later.

That's what a race to the bottom looks like, and why it's not something you can win.

Or want to enter.

                                                                       * * * * *

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 top right RFP fields. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Being Different People For Fun And Profit

So there was an article in my social feed this week of how B2B leads are much further along in the sales funnel than people generally think. (Hat tip, Demandbase.) Sot when they reach a company to signal interest, the last thing that a sales pro should do is treat them like someone who needs to be sold. Instead, the theory goes, sales needs to think and act more like marketers, and look to solve problems, rather than just close.

My reaction to that was that it, well, seems fairly insulting to sales. In my experience, the best sales guys that I've ever worked with were always about solving problems, rather than just pushing a prospect over the line. That way may help you make a short term goal, but it dooms companies and destroys networks in the long term, because you become known for not taking care of your people. You also fill your funnel with clients that aren't going to be happy.

But more than that, it struck me how the approach that was suggested... is more along the lines of doing business as a creative, even more so than a marketer. Becoming a different person, to some extent, is just the right way to start a creative, especially when you are running a shop that handles a high amount of throughput.

Demographically, we knew who we are reaching in various consumer categories, so changing the pitch to suit -- with varying font and color choices, with language that suited the profile, with selling points that were either emphasized or disregarded -- is just good business. Combine this with moments of charity, otherwise known as never crafting work that is patronizing, but always sympathetic to the lead and their needs, and you can do work that has heart, rather than just technique.

This is, on some level, why clients hire you; because when you just have to work on your own account, you tend to make ads that appeal to the shareholders, rather than the target. It's also why diversity in your team isn't just a winning moment for your HR numbers or company photo, but also something that helps you make better work.

On some level, this aspect of the gig has always seemed to me to have aspects of being a defense attorney, or being able to argue both sides of a case in a mock trial exercise in pre-law or political science courses. (Full disclosure: my second major at college.) It's not a case of being showy and schizophrenic, or clumsily role-playing a different consumer class. Instead, it's trying to understand what's important to the pitched profile and why, then tailoring the work to that person.

It's an exercise in hearing the other side, in valuing the experience and needs of others as if they were your own, and it becomes something that informs and approves your whole life. As a parent, I am more effective if I can understand why my children act the way they do, and come at that from a better starting point. Same goes as a spouse, or to other members of my teams at work, or our clients. No one is acting in bad faith; all have some degree of validity to their point, and need to be accommodated or coached up. Hell, it even makes me better as a friend, since this means I can have people who don't agree with me, at all, politically.

When I am effective, it's because I've remembered that I don't have all the answers, but I can listen and learn and research to get them. And when I don't remember that, because that's part of being human as well... well, I can get back to the more open mindset quickly. It's habit. A really good one, actually.

* * * * *

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 top right RFP fields. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

What would a superphone mean to you and your business?

That's A Phone?

While speaking in Singapore at a conference on innovation, the president of strategy marketing at a giant Chinese tech company spoke of the coming "superphone", which is said to arrive in 2020, and bridge the confluence of multiple trends. The device is imagined as the culmination of digital intelligence working with human perceptions, with a side order of big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things.

Which all seems like a double size serving of word salad, until you start thinking it over. Five years is an eternity in phone tech, and with the speed of implementation in the IoT with beacons, not to mention the money involved here -- since obsolescence in phones seems to be a 2 to 3 year window at the top end -- there's just an absurd number of reasons why a better phone isn't a theoretical, but a given.

So let's imagine what it might mean. I'm already on record as expecting projection technology to break us out of the small screen, but the other aspect of that could mean a smaller overall unit. I don't know about you, but I miss being able to put a phone in a pocket, and a folding model also meant that butt dialing just didn't happen. It wouldn't shock me to see continued options, rather than just the same size and UI. There's really no reason why a phone should look like a phone. It could be a wearable device, tech that rides in the body, and so on.

I'd also dream of re-powering the unit as a solar event. Voice recognition should be dramatically better by then, along with coverage. Having the unit learn about me from my day to day, so that I don't tell the unit what to do on a routine basis, but just have it know and work from that schedule. Motion sensors that allow for changing UI, better auto-correct, hologram tech, having the screen "take over" any other screen so that display is more shareable... all of that seems like it should be on a 5 years or better road map.

But let's go beyond the clear path from what we can do currently, and more into theoretical. Imagine interacting with your screen without voice or hand command, with tracking to the eye level, and what that might mean to handicapped access. Rather than scrolling or manipulating with your hands, things just happen from a concentrated look, or maybe even a bio-feedback thought. Such things are possible with prosthetics now, and being able to think your PIN, or answer security questions without words or visible action, would have to be a security and UI benefit. (Along with identity checks as biometric feedback, or maybe just a retina scan. Which would also be the ideal moment to prevent unit theft, really. For your eyes only becomes very real.)

And the dreaming can go beyond that. A phone that works with self-driving cars becomes a secure device that allows for mobility without driver's license, or even a human operator for companies like Uber or Lyft. Biometric security allows for vending machine access without cash or credit card. Paying a restaurant bill can become a voice-activated command with retina scan. Any number of devices cease to exist as their own device -- flashlights, GPS, hotel key cards, car key fobs, wallets, cameras, iPods -- because it all gets rolled into the phone. Maybe even gaming consoles, monitors, and so on.

From an advertising and marketing standpoint, it stops being mobile-friendly or mobile-first. It's just, well, everything, because the phone is the gateway to all of the interaction that you ever get with your consumer, and if the data is truly two-way within reason, maybe we finally get to the day when the only ads you ever see are relevant to your interests... and in your active consideration set, rather than something you've already completed.

Oh, and just to make sure I'm not seen as only imagining the good? Massive issues involving consumer privacy and safety, as hacks of the units get you to untapped potential for criminals. An increasing polarization between economic elites and everyone else. A nightmare for teachers of all stripes. An HMO situation where the phone pushes users through the system, maybe even at a remote-only level, or with proactive prescriptions referrals. Unit or system failures that cause out and out panic. A race to a job-free economy, since so much capability has the potential to just remove jobs. (Consider, if you will, what happened to cameras, film, and film development in your lifetime.)

The superphone is, in all likelihood, just something that will happen, for good or ill, forcing change in its wake. Being able to proactively work towards that potential isn't just something good marketing and ad pros do. It's also what will save your clients, as well as continue your billing. Act accordingly.

* * * * * 

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 top right RFP fields. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Working Through Terrible

It's mid-November in the mid-Atlantic area that I call home, which means it's leaf gathering time. My house has a significant amount of yard and trees, so I wound up just bundling up and going at it today with the rake and bags. By the time everything was done, I had been working for about four hours, or just about longer than I'll ever be awake and away from any kind of screen. It gives you time to think, not the least of which is how little fun raking is. (I do own a leaf blower, but it doesn't seem to make the job any faster, and I can use the exercise. So the rake it is.)

As I started the process, I was thinking about the events in Paris, the footage, the likely next steps, and just getting more and more depressed. So cyclical, so pointless, so limiting to what we should be able to achieve as a species. So much of what we do as marketers is about finding the positive story and telling it to the right people, so we can put our brands in the best position to succeed. And in so doing, feed their families, expand their businesses, fund their research, and so on, and so on. This news makes all of that seem as pointless as, well, raking up leaves. There are still leaves on some of the trees, after all. I'll be doing this job again in a few weeks, and then again in a year, and the year after that. Just as terrible people will be making terrible choices that cause terrible tragedies, with the power of tools that make those tragedies increasingly large, and impossible to keep from reaching their audience. There will be no end of oxygen for this fire.

And then I saw the gravestone. A couple of years ago, in a terrible accident, the family's beloved dog passed away suddenly. He's buried at the edge of my yard, with a stone, and it's always something of a challenge to do work back there, especially while alone, and not think of that day. I usually get back to equilibrium, eventually, by making myself remember him for better things, because he was a great dog, and his memory deserves better than my sadness. But it requires discipline. That's the nature of grief. It's always there for you, whenever you want to visit.

To get through my task, I had to put blinders on mentally, think of something else, and get back to work. There's no other option. The world is a terrible place every day, provided you keep your mind in those places.

Which brings us back to the attacks, and the proper response from a marketing and advertising perspective. I'm not sure, honestly, that there is one, at least not in a one size fits all fashion. Plenty of brands will express sympathy and solidarity with the victims, but without a charitable aspect, this can seem rote or hollow... and it's not as if there's a go-to charity for donations in the wake of a terrorist act. Perhaps something that the criminals would particularly dislike, like women's equality in disadvantaged nations, or support for some other at-risk segment, but that also puts you in some danger of alienating a portion of your customer base. Similarly, saying nothing can seem like your brand is cold or uncaring, and that's not an acceptable option for youth markets or those doing significant business with the French.

If it's my client, I make my stand quietly, without a sizable PR or social media effort. Make it something that my customers have to come to my site or store to find out about, rather than something that seems ostentatious. As with all such moves, I'd make the action something that customers can join or activate, not for a viral standpoint, but just to not seem stand-offish. Finally, I wouldn't go very long with the move, unless it becomes part of your social structure or culture.

What happened in Paris will be seen by many as a fresh reason for war, as an escalation of a culture clash, or as the start of a new and dark era of conflict. That's a matter for the politics of the day, public debate, and the effectiveness of the world community at turning back the tide of extremism and hate. But it's not likely to be the reason why someone does or does not patronize a brand. It's better for your business if it's seen, and handled, as a crime against humanity, and the perpetrators as garden variety thugs, rather than the vanguard of a new religious or culture war. If, for no other reason, than this fails to give them what they wanted from the attack in the first place.

On a personal level, the choice to find something that is not terrible to think about will come a little easier with the passage of time, as it always does. On a global level, Paris will recover, criminals will be made responsible for their actions, and the world will move forward and away from such revulsion. In both cases, the only sane choice will be taken.

Because, really, there is no other choice.

* * * * *

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 visit the site. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Oh, Canada

Usually done with checks

I try not go get into politics in my content marketing, because as a marketer, you have to be something like an attorney: able to argue the merits of any case, and comfortable in the space of delivering excellence to any client, even if you might not be in love with their value proposition. But as the continuing parade of corruption that is the American presidential primaries moves on (and on, and on), with the actual voting still so far away, I've been struck by the difference between America and Canada, and wondering why we can't have a much saner situation.

To review, Canada's entire election this year, in which Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party took power over Stephen Harper's Conservative Party, took all of 78 days.

No, seriously, 78 days. Less than three months from soup to nuts. Without dozens of candidates, wildly overpopulated stages, an unconscionable amount of money, and the denigration of the process by more or less equating the choice as if it were a reality television show.

So why are we saddled with this process? Well, the oldest, truest and saddest axiom in political science is that people get the government they deserve... and if you want to get well and truly mean about it, you can go the extra mile with H.L. Mencken's quote that they will get it good and hard. My own view is that this is a media issue.

A political debate is nearly as DVR-proof as a football game, which means live ratings in a time when such events are worth their weight in gold. So long as these events pull in the biggest numbers of the year for cable channels, and the massive boost in advertising spends for local and national campaigns, we've got an environment of total corruption and compromise.

People of all political stripes ascribe bias to the media, and that's absolutely correct... but the bias is towards spectacle, horse race, scandal and clickbait. Close elections create more spends, greater donations from supporters, and higher ratings from all concerned parties. Along with a greater spirit of desperation, since only two Presidents in the last 60+ years have failed to win a second term, and none in the past 25 years.

So the question isn't why American presidential elections are so long, expensive, and superficial. The bigger question is why they are ever allowed to end. Or how the toothpaste is ever going back in the tube.

Anyone else feeling very jealous of Canada?

* * * * *

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.

Satellite Of Brand

Just Add Money

I remember the first time I was shown an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." It was on a VHS tape, in a friend's college dorm room, and I had never heard of the show before. The person showing me the episode was downright evangelistic about it, and within five minutes, I completely got why. There was nothing this smart, this clever, or just so on my comic sensibilities. I wasn't a complete fanatic about it, and there were plenty of episodes where the movie that was being riffed was just too terrible to redeem, no matter how quick the comedians were. But when they hit, my heavens. It hurt, you'd laugh so much.

I became a fan, in a time when sharing such things required work. VHS tapes were fantastic technology compared to the great nothing that were before them, and you could honestly have a party -- ok, a fairly nerdy party, but still, a party -- over who had the cool tapes that no one else had.

There was more to the VHS approach, of course. Small bits of animation from the Spike and Mike festival, odd moments from Japan, redubbed weirdness and sports moments, and some more infamous stuff that we don't need to get into here. Before YouTube, you had to have connections and be proactive about such things. Circulating the tape was social currency, and there was no more valuable token MST3K tapes.

The show ran for many iterations, and moved from network to network, eventually ending in 1999. DVDs of past episodes have been intermittent, due to rights and licensing fees. Both sets of personnel from the show's main run have continued to do the basic gig, under different new brand names. And now Joel Hodgson, the original creator of the show, has worked out a deal with Shout! Factory to buy the rights and make (be still our hearts) new episodes. There's a Kickstarter that, as I right this, is more than 40% of the way to its minimum $2 million goal with a month to go, and given MST3Ks hard-core nerd audience , it's hard to imagine how the target won't be met. If the full $5.5 million target is met, Hodgson hopes to make 12 future-length episodes with the funding.

Personally, I'm a little surprised that this isn't a Netflix experience already, or Hulu, or Amazon Prime. It's not like this is a new brand that needs a great amount of PR; it will generate its own. But maybe this isn't something that needs to be on any channel, especially because every old fan (and the show started nearly 30 years ago; we're all old fans) is going to share this in their social media feed.

That's the power of a real brand. It never quite goes away, and makes the people who identify with that brand root for them. And evangelize.

* * * * *

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.

The Speed Of Change

Only Getting Faster

The other night, I was driving back after a gym and grocery run with my youngest in the car. I had tried to do too much too quickly (yes, this is common), and we were going to be about 5 minutes late to pick up my eldest from her gymnastics session. So I dialed up my wife to try to arrange a pick up, as she was closer, while also trying to figure out if I could do everything I needed to do without stopping for gas. All in a neighborhood that I didn't know too well.

One dial, voice mail. Second dial, voice mail. Map application, not working. Now I'm going to be ten minutes late, because I've made the wrong turn. The low gas light is glaring at me, and my stress level is rising. Why can't the tech just work? My phone keeps having calls that don't go through, messages that aren't answered, routine dead spots in my day to day. How much do I have to pay each month for a phone that actually works when I really need it to?

Five minutes later, the mini-crisis was over, with my wife calling me back, having always assumed she was going to pick up the eldest. As my blood pressure went back to normal and the map application kicked in, with the ability to stop and get gas opening up, a few things became clear.

First, that all of that drama was self-inflicted, which was obvious even when it was happening. Just trying to do too much, and expecting to be able to get through a grocery store checkout too quickly. You'd think that I would be smart enough to give myself some leeway, but, well, I'm not.

Second, that this sort of experience was impossible not so very long ago, but that as soon as you get used to the tech working for you... it's intolerable when it does not. Even if you are old enough to remember a time before mobile phones.

Third, it's going to seem charmingly quaint in a very short period of time. Connection maps will improve, the Internet of Things will allow me to know where, say, my wife's car was (i.e., if moving towards the pick up for the eldest, no need to call), the map application won't fail, and even the older model of car that I was driving will have an exact calculation for the remaining gas.

Finally, that as savvy as I may think I am about my capabilities and how the world works, there's still really no hard and fast rule as to when it will all change. If you had asked me if I was going to have this experience an hour before I had it, I would have laughed. No chance! I had this!

How this all relates to marketing and advertising is a bit of a stretch... but there are parallels. The day job now is email, and the way that people interact with that has changed a lot recently, and will just keep changing. The call to action for a great deal of our work is to get the list to view videos, and that's been changing a lot as well. My field is prosperous, but also under a lot of scrutiny, and could change dramatically in the next couple of years. The shifting tech might change as much as the politics, really.

We are living in amazing, and very transitory, times. That's likely to be true for a really long while. What about your world is going to change soon?

* * * * *

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 Tips To Avoid Blog Writer's Block

More wall than block

This week, several people in my network commented on the prolific nature of my writing... and the funny thing is, some of them don't know the half of it, in that I also write a blog about sports, to go with this one about marketing and advertising. As I am on target to post over 100 times in 2015 on both sites, in addition to holding down a day gig that also involves writing, and have been doing this for the better part of a decade, I know how to keep the fires burning. Here are five tips for getting yourself out of a sticking point.

5) Cheat with numbers.

I've talked about how a learning engine of analytics driving creative is an edge. It also works for writing. Your blog posts that get more traffic, retweets, likes and comments are all good for inspiring more thoughts. Or, darkly, less.

4) Don't give a block power.

Writer's block is like any other form of self-created drama; it requires fuel to burn, and that fuel is your own mind telling you that you are blocked. You can, and will, get unstuck any moment now, because you have every other time you've stopped writing. This isn't a matter of blind self-confidence; it's a matter of looking at past track record, and assessing the situation from an emotional distance. The next sentence will come, and more after that one. So write it already.

3) Be open to many sources of inspiration.

I've written about everything from my leisure activities (golf and poker), entertainment choices (Bridgett Everett, the Daily Show succession), dog (the rise of high-end services for pet owners), technology (the IoT), current events (Volkswagen and others) and war stories from my past gigs. I don't view everything in my life through an advertising and marketing filter, but the nice part of the subject matter is that it travels across a wide swath of experiences.

2) Fill the frame.

The late great Frank Zappa once described art as the stuff that's inside the frame, because without the frame, it's an open question as to who left that mess on the wall. (I am not quoting exactly, because Frank was wonderfully rude, and didn't say mess. You get the gist.)

Blog posts follow a template, and a rhythm, that is fairly consistent. It's not like we're cranking out rivets in a factory, or blind to quality or flights of fancy, but let's be realistic about this. I'm writing three posts a week, I'm turning in the post after so much time writing it, and killing myself with over-editing and perfectionism is just a way to waste time, and not get to the next item on my to-do list. Fill the frame, then move on.

1) Live your story.

All of us have any number of other things we can do with our time. I could pull out my guitar, work on my stand up comedy, clean the house, play golf or poker, run some miles, toss the frisbee for my dog, watch a game, and so on, and so on.

But the story that I tell of my life is that I am, more than any other hobby or avocation, a writer. Writers have deadlines, and need to meet them, or they are not writers. (Yes, I know, there are other kinds of writers, and you can be a great one without a deadline... but this is my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

So my story is never that I need time off, or that I'm sick, or over-committed, or can't function unless a certain amount of sleep happens at a certain time of day. The saving grace of all of this is that writing has strong elements of craft to it, and you get better at craft the more you do it. (Also, thank heavens, faster.) I am infinitely happier when I am being true to the story of my life; most people are, really. So I write.

What's the story of your life, and are you living it?

* * * * *

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.

Reputations For Sale

Your Money Or Your Stars

Ratings are an increasingly important aspect of the way people use the Web, not just for products, but also for people. From Peeple's horrible model and PR disaster to Uber's get ratings or don't get work, not to mention AirBnB's approach, traditional management of project employees is getting outsourced to the wisdom of the crowds. This isn't even all that new, given the relative maturity of eBay in the marketplace, and the presence of power buyers and sellers on that site. But it is becoming more pronounced, and noticeable on a greater amount of buying decisions.

At first blush, this just seems inevitable, because it's just something that's under the hood of a disruptive technology. But just because something is inevitable does not mean that it's desirable, especially for the people without leverage, which would be the contractors. Rankings don't just put the power in the hands of the customer, they also create the potential for abuse that would be illegal in a traditional workplace, without the potential for counter-measures like unions or collective bargaining. And it's not as if you, as the provider, get more work or a better rate from glowing reviews. All you get is to stay in consideration.

As a consumer, the power of prior ratings is undeniable, to the point where low marks will more or less eliminate a product or provider from consideration for the vast majority of us. But as a provider, on a personal level, the change is very worrisome. I've spent decades going the extra mile for clients and co-workers, all to make sure that my network -- the only aspect of an individual career that can give you any degree of real job security, especially in careers in start-ups and other high turnover fields -- is large and eager to work with me again. But no advertising and marketing pro hits all the time. I'm sure that I've been on the wrong side of enough people to ensure that if my profession was rankings dependent, I could be a risk to not get future gigs, just from the actions of a handful of people. And sure, we're just at 1.0 in terms of this technology, let alone how people use it, but sometimes, v1 is all you get. I could easily see de facto blackmail from buyers who become aware of the power of a one star review.

So what happens next in a situation like this? Well, in other aspects of too much power being in a single metric, to put it bluntly, fraud. Advertising contracts that are purely cost per click inevitably led to black hat coding that produced fraudulent clicks. Five-star ratings and glowing reviews for products are already something you can buy from compromised people, with Amazon even going so far as to sue to try to maintain the integrity of their system. It's going to be even harder to police that sort of thing when it comes to a services provider, but just as fraud is inevitable, so are policing measures.

As consumers, what's going to happen is that ratings aren't going to be enough to make an informed decision. We're also going to have to become detectives and skeptical hiring managers, reading reviews with an eye for veracity, questioning a ranking if it has a suspicious amount of positive rankings for the amount of probable business, and maybe even doing a second pass through a more rigorous approach, like maybe checking references on LinkedIn, or looking at someone's Facebook or Twitter before giving power to their review. This will also be a time management problem, since some purchases are more important than others. Just taking the shortcut of lots of stars equal automatic purchase won't cut it.

That's the thing about disruptive technology. It disrupts more than just a single market. We haven't seen all of the ripples and impact from this wave yet.

* * * * *

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.