There is a skewed philosophy in the marketing world today – that in order to beat your competition, you must know your competition inside and out. However, this philosophy tends to yield mediocrity, not innovation.
I keep running across phone manufacturers that are promoting their upcoming “iPhone killers.” And with each one, I have the same reaction: “really?!” (in a slightly skeptical and sarcastic tone).
The problem with these new phones is that the manufacturers are focusing too much on the competition. It is apparent that they began the initiative by analyzing everything about the iPhone and then building a device that mimics it, but with more features.
In contrast, I imagine the development of the iPhone was much different, and it probably started with one question: how can we make the best phone in the world? Sure, I bet they studied other devices, but probably for insight on what they did not want to do as opposed to stealing features.
These are two entirely different mindsets. One says, “How innovative can we be?” and the other says, “How can we beat product X?” If you practice the first philosophy, you are really limitless in what you can produce, and you customers will respond positively. However, the second philosophy can only position you in relation to whatever product you are trying to beat. At the end of the day, you just look like a copycat.
Now, is it possible for a company to produce an “iPhone killer?” Sure it is. But it will happen by innovating, not trying to mimic the iPhone.
Are you paying too much attention to your competition, or are you simply producing the best work possible with excellence? Put some blinders on and do what you do best.
When our clients celebrate, we celebrate too. So, we are thrilled to congratulate Tenth Avenue North for winning a Dove Award for New Artist of the Year last night. It’s quite an accomplishment.
Our team enjoyed working on designing and developing the band’s website earlier this year (TenthAvenueNorth.com).
While I lived in New York, I participated in a leadership exercise that illustrated the potential of productivity under pressure. Our group was divided into two teams and given the task to create an actual product, build a website, and provide a way for someone to purchase the product online. Now, this process could take as much as three months or even more to complete. However, we were given a mere three hours.
Both teams kicked into high gear as soon as the clock began, and three hours later, both teams had a product, a functioning website, and an online purchase option. Granted, the products did not look that great, the websites were extremely bare, and the payment option was done through PayPal, but - both teams had completed the almost-impossible objective.
Many times, we do not really push ourselves. We find a nice steady pace and stick to that. It’s comfortable. However, by not pushing ourselves, we are not meeting new challenges. If we are not challenging ourselves, we are not growing. And, if we are not growing, we are not reaching our potential.
Part of our philosophy at Anthology is to push things to the max. Most of our deadlines are aggressive. Our time budgets are aggressive. And we demand excellence. However, by pushing hard and creating difficult objectives, we are constantly refining our process and growing as a team. Our tiny successes become big successes and our tiny failures becoming huge learning experiences.
I am seeing more and more media outlets jump on the Twitter bandwagon in an attempt to utilize the latest web trend. However, while many see the obvious opportunity, few actually use it effectively.
Two local news stations here in Nashville are on Twitter: WSMV (an NBC affiliate) and WKRN (an ABC affiliate). Even though both stations utilize Twitter, the differentiation between the two is huge.
Station 01: WSMV
This station has 5,770 tweets at the time of this post. However, despite the high frequency, EVERY SINGLE tweet is a link back to an article on their website. No replies. No personality. No face to this station. WSMV is using Twitter for the sole purpose of pushing people to their website. Lame.
This strategy misses the sweet spot of Twitter: to participate in the conversation. For WSMV, it is merely a one-way conversation with self-centered objectives.
Station 02: WKRN
WKRN, on the other hand, gets what Twitter is all about. Despite less activity on the account (only 26 updates), each tweet is engaging the users. In addition, they have experimented with using reply tweets in their nightly broadcasts - brilliant.
Instead of taking advantage of Twitter like their counterpart, they are utilizing it to connect to the audience. They are joining in the conversation and engaging users, which is what social media is all about.
Additionally, they actively follow 90 other Twitter users (compared to the 0 users that WSMV follows).
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the most recent tweet from WKRN was over three weeks ago. I hope they have not dismissed Twitter as a viable communication outlet. If they stick with it, they will find it to be rewarding to their station and their audience. Come on, WKRN - keep it up.
Navigation should not be taken lightly since it is the most important interfacing utility on your website. Many times, people throw in whatever they think is important on the site. This is almost like going to the fridge and throwing together everything you like into one salad - it is just not effective and will probably leave a bad taste in your mouth.
1. Think
Navigation should be thought through carefully. When considering the top level navigation, it is usually better to cut out options than add them. Sit down with a pen and paper and map out each section and page that needs to be in the navigation (notice I did not say “that you want to be in the navigation”).
2. Prioritize
This fits hand-in-hand with the first tip. Determine the options in which your user will be most interested. What are the sections most used on your site? How do users flow through your site? Do they check one section first, then another? How can you arrange the navigation and options to improve the user experience?
3. Group
Try to group items into logical contexts. If it does not fit in the group, then it needs to go somewhere else. Many links live perfectly fine in the footer. Don’t think that every single section/link/page needs to be in the main navigation cascade.
4. Optimize
More times than not, the first stab at a navigation is not the most effective. Analyze your traffic flows and adjust accordingly. If you find that your users are not clicking on the “About Us” page, then it may be better to link to this page in the footer. You goal is to create the best navigation interface possible for the user. Give them what they need to make browsing the site most effective.
I have always been a freak about efficiency - I guess it is a combination of having an appreciation for aspects of engineering and having the tendency to be slightly obsessive-compulsive from time to time. Optimization yields efficiency.
In my day-to-day life, I try to optimize whenever possible - from lines of code in a long web app to simple things like how many loads of laundry I do in a given month. I always try to find the fastest way to get from point A to point B without affecting the quality of the end product.
Optimization is really key to progressing and evolving as an individual. As you optimize aspects in your life, you can begin to take on new things, bigger responsibilities, and explore different options.
Programmers always boast about optimization of code, but I think the principle can apply to all areas of our life - even design. Some of the best designs I have seen have been optimized for simplicity and communication. It is all about getting the core functionality of something and removing the clutter.
Recently, Anthology created an election countdown widget for Apple’s Dashboard (OS X) to help promote a new site called Help Me Vote 08. Help Me Vote provides a leadership analysis for each of the presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain - then allows you to compare your rankings with others.
The 2008 Olymipcs not only showcased the best athletes in the world, but also the best commercials in the world. Clearly, the marketing opportunities are huge during Olympic broadcasts and several companies stepped up to the plate. The following commercials are the best of the 2008 Olympics - they are engaging, compelling, and inspiring.
10. Coca-Cola: Bird’s Nest
9. GM: I Was Made For You
8. Home Depot: Sweat
7. Visa GO WORLD Series: Michael Phelps 8 Gold Medals
6. GM: Gas Station/Chevy Volt
5. Coke: Olympics and Special Olympics
4. Visa GO WORLD Series: Kerri Strug
3. Nike: Courage (I’ve Got Soul)
2. Visa GO WORLD Series: Come Together
1. Visa GO WORLD Series: Derek Redmond
And a Bonus… the worst commercial of the 2008 Games.
Anthology recently had the opportunity to develop a custom spash page for the band Leeland. The project consisted of time-released videos of each band member on the splash page. These videos were humorous and received great response from fans.
A secondary page was created to communicate the band’s “Opposite Way” movement - living the opposite way of the world. This page carried a more serious tone and allowed people to leave stories about how they were living the opposite way. The stories shared here were inspirational to other fans.
Now that more and more people are jumping on Facebook these days, it is becoming increasingly difficult for professionals to separate their online business life from their online personal life. As the video clip above proves, the convergence of these segments in social media are starting to cause problems for professionals.
Which brings up a good question: Should your business life and personal life really be segregated?
Whatever you do in your free time is a reflection on you, right? You are you. Your actions on the weekend reflect on your 9-to-5 life and vis versa.
If you like to go out and party on the weekends, be ready to take responsibility for images that may be posted of you on Facebook. Be ready to have friends write things like “you were totally wasted last night” on your wall. These are reflections of you. You should not feel that you need to hide that, and if you do try to hide that, you are not being true to yourself.
Facebook has allowed anyone that you befriend to journey with you in your personal life. They are able to see where you go, follow what you do, and monitor who you hang out with. You are not able to separate these and exist effectively in the social media world.
The only way to keep embarrassing content from showing up on Facebook is to realize that your business life and your personal life is one. And people will respect you if you act accordingly. If you do not place yourself in potentially embarassing situtations, you have nothing to worry about. A little integrity can go a long way.
Itegrity in your personal life = interity in your business life.
by Nathan Moore
