GOODNESS AND HAPPINESS

WHY GENEROSITY IS THE FUTURE OF MARKETING STRATEGY

NEIL PERKIN ONLY DEAD FISH

http://neilperkin.typepad.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/netsrot/

being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Andy Warhol

doing good is fast becoming a strategic - not just a moral imperative Umair Haque

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnnyvulkan/

BEING GENEROUS IS NOT A NEW PRINCIPLE

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you Matthew 7-120

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75001512@N00/

ITS JUST THAT THE NEW WORLD MAKES IT VERY REAL

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rehvonwald/

WE DONT ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT

For the fourth consecutive year, nearly 9 out of 10 online adults who have conducted an online transaction in the past year have experienced problems doing so Four in five online adults who experience problems share their experiences with others -both online and offline
Source: Harris Interactive / Tealeaf: The Tealeaf 2008 Online Transactions Survey http://www.tealeaf.com/resources/Harris_2008.asp http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/

WE DONT ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT

http://www.gapingvoid.com/

WE DONT ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT WE DONT ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT

Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman. The Cluetrain Manifesto

AND PEOPLE ARENT SHY ABOUT SAYING IT

Image: farm3.static.flickr.com/2088/2213647530_4506ce2671_o.jpg

BENEVOLENCE IS A BIG IDEA

BIG

we have to put the meaning back into business. Umair Haque

http://discussionleader.hbsp.com/haque/2008/09/how_to_build_a_nextgen_business_now.html

IT POWERS COMPANY MORALE AND MOTIVATION

If doing good for people gives you a sense of mission that makes you harder to kill, that alone more than compensates for whatever you lose by not choosing a more selfish project. Paul Graham
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trudi/

IT MAKES PEOPLE WANT TO WORK FOR YOUR COMPANY

There are real changes in expectations and practices from employees...individuals are demanding work with a clearer purpose and meaning, and choosing employers with a higher moral standard Peter Bradwell, Richard Reeves Demos Network Citizens: Power and Responsibility At Work, 2008
http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Network%20citizens%20-%20web.pdf http://www.linkinn.com/_Vincent_Laforets_Photos

People migrate to institutions that reflect the values they hold and make it possible for individuals to make a difference. Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country has subtly shifted. Do ask what your country/company will allow you to do for them, before choosing. JP Rangaswami

http://www.linkinn.com/_Vincent_Laforets_Photos

AND BRING PASSION TO THEIR WORK

"the new face of work, at least for some people, opens up the possibility that work is the thing (much of the time) that you'd most like to do. Designing jobs like that is obviously smart. Finding one is brilliant." Seth Godin
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/workaholics.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guillaumegrall/ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/workaholics.html

IT PROVIDES DIRECTION AND A FRAMEWORK FOR YOUR DECISION MAKING

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wimpers/

IT CREATES DIFFERENTIATION

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/

IT CREATES DIFFERENTIATION

AND IN A WORLD OF OVER-CAPACITY, DIFFERENTIATION IS EVERYTHING

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/

IT GETS YOU NOTICED

AND TALKED ABOUT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/annabelb/

AND GETTING TALKED ABOUT IS THE MOST POWERFUL FORM OF MARKETING % of consumers who rate Word Of Mouth very good at
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Info for new brands Adds to trust in brands Helps decide the brand is right for me Prompts some action

77

70

69

74

Source : Compose BMRB

Marketing spend generates traffic Some of that traffic sticks

Users are inspired and enabled to talk about your product

SETH GODIN FLIPPING THE FUNNEL

Ref: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/files/flippingfunnelPRO.pdf

They spread the message around the network

it's not really what you say that matters at all, but how you make people feel. Faris Yakob

http://farisyakob.typepad.com/blog/2008/07/before-the-gorilla-there-were-the-chimps.html

BELIEF IS VERY POWERFUL IN MARKETING

The market for something to believe in is infinite Hugh MacCleod

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26359680@N07/

EVERYONE WANTS SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN

So, what grows? What do marketers sell that scales? Ill tell you what: Belief. Belonging. Mattering. Making a difference. Tribes. We have an unlimited need for this. Seth Godin

MARK EARLS THE PURPOSE IDEA

the Purpose-Idea is the "What For?" of a business, or any kind of community. What exists to change (or protect) in the world, why employees get out of bed in the morning, what difference the business seeks to make on behalf of customers and employees and everyone else? BTW this is not "mission, vision, values" territory - it's about real drives, passions and beliefs. Mark Earls

THE HUGHTRAIN MANIFESTO

We are here to find meaning. We are here to help other people do the same. Everything else is secondary. We humans want to believe in our own species. And we want people, companies and products in our lives that make it easier to do so. That is human nature. Product benefit doesn't excite us. Belief in humanity and human potential excites us. Think less about what your product does, and think more about human potential. What statement about humanity does your product make? The bigger the statement, the bigger the idea, the bigger your brand will become. It's no longer just enough for people to believe that your product does what it says on the label. They want to believe in you and what you do. And they'll go elsewhere if they don't. It's not enough for the customer to love your product. They have to love your process as well. People are not just getting more demanding as consumers, they are getting more demanding as spiritual entities. Branding is a spiritual exercise. These are The New Realities, this is the Spiritual Republic we now live in. The soul cannot be outsourced. Either get with the program or hire a consultant in Extinction Management. No vision, no business. Your life from now on pivots squarely on your vision of human potential. Hugh MacLeod
Image: http://seantiner.blogspot.com/2008/08/innovators.html http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000823.html

AND BELIEF GETS RESULTS

And it delivers results In Built To Last, Jerry Porras and Michael Collins demonstrate that in the medium and longer term purpose-driven businesses outperform businesses with similar asset bases, from similar locations, of similar age, etc. by a large margin. Mark Earls, HERD

Stop campaigning, start committing Paul Isakson

http://paulisakson.typepad.com/planning/2008/09/modern-brand-bu.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zefrog/

THE MEANING OF MEANING

Without a deeply felt - and a powerfully lived - sense of meaning, every business will devolve to what the investment banks became: machines engineered with relentless precision to destroy long-run value, often implosively so. Umair Haque

http://www.flickr.com/photos/poseidonsimage/

THE LOTUS ECONOMY

'This transition from economic value to economic creativity marks a paradigm shift from the Box-Economy, measured by the optimisation of moving boxes, thinking in boxes, putting people in boxes and exchanging boxes, to the Lotus-Economy, measured by personal transformation, creativity and innovation. It has manifested itself as a shift from an economy based on producing and buying things to an economy in which the primary unit of exchange is meaning where organisations become hothouses for ideas and the revolution of the human spirit.'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/o_omars/ http://unfrozenmind.com/?page_id=15

THE BUDDHIST ECONOMIST

For the modern economist this is very difficult to understand. He is used to measuring the 'standard of living' by the amount of annual consumption, assuming all the time that a man who consumes more is 'better off' than a man who consumes less. A Buddhist economist would consider this approach excessively irrational: since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption. E.F. Schumaker
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmorris/

It was this shift, when youth became the early adopters, which signalled a real change from institutional to individual capitalism; not having been exposed to how organisations worked and not caring about how governments operated, youth began to set the agenda. Peer respect became more important than the power of hierarchical authority; relationships and trust returned to prominence after a long time in the wilderness; there were no longer any taboos about asking why things were the way they were, and challenging the status quo. Today is their Sixties. And, in a vicarious way, ours too; The Age of the Individual. JP Rangaswami

http://confusedofcalcutta.com/the-kernel-for-this-blog/

SO WHAT DOES BEING GENEROUS MEAN?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/strangered/

GET STUCK IN

http://slimgoodies.tumblr.com/

BE HONEST

Image: http://www.outdoorlens.com/funny-animal-signs/

BE REAL

http://www.gapingvoid.com/

AND BE VISIBLE

BECAUSE ONLINE, ITS THE PEOPLE THAT MATTER

We know that connecting people online is critical. We can get much more done more quickly this way. We no longer turn to the company, we turn to the people in these companies. We turn to the experts. Sam Lawrence
http://gobigalways.com/911-and-the-social-software-movement/

SHARE

"In the past you were what you owned. Now you are what you share." Charles Leadbeater
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmewuji/

FIND THE GOODNESS IN EVERYTHING

http://www.lifelounge.com/Student-Advice-Posters-Gallery.aspx

AND BE POSITIVE

AND BE POSITIVE

BECAUSE POSITIVITY SPREADS

ENABLE

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xgray/

LISTEN

Act on feedback, encourage discussion, be a part of it

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twenty_questions/

PLAY "Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature." Tom Robbins

http://www.flickr.com/photos/afferent/

THINK A LOT, AND THEN BE THOUGHTLESS

"High creativity is responding to situations without critical thought." John Cleese

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanducie/

YES, REALLY

EXCEED YOUR CUSTOMERS EXPECTATIONS

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oybay/

EARN TRUST FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegasrob/

EARN TRUST FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS AND DONT ABUSE IT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegasrob/

EARN TRUST FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS AND DONT ABUSE IT

BECAUSE THEY WONT COME BACK

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegasrob/

GENEROSITY MEANS LETTING GO

NO, REALLY

BEING GENEROROUS IS ABOUT CREATING A DIALOGUE

BEING GENEROROUS IS ABOUT CREATING A DIALOGUE

NOT A CONDUCTING A MONOLOGUE

AND BE GENEROUS WITH YOURSELF

http://thisisindexed.com/

AND ABOVE ALL

MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY

http://www.flickr.com/photos/internal_sabotage/

BECAUSE

HAPPINESS IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

As the shift in balance of power as well as the shift for ever stronger emphasis on product and experience are gaining momentum, companies today are in the business of happiness. Asi Sharabi
http://no-mans-blog.com/2008/07/30/hippy-marketing/

AND

THE MORE GENEROUS YOU ARE, THE MORE YOU GET BACK

Everything I do always comes back to me Stefan Sagmeister

THE MORE GENEROUS YOU ARE, THE MORE YOU GET BACK

"Do not covet your ideas. Give away everything you know and more will come back to you. Paul Arden

ITS NOT SO DIFFICULT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elizabethboya/

ITS JUST ABOUT REMEMBERING WERE ALL HUMAN

what were really craving is more humanity itself. I see clues of this everywhere, from the direct engagement as enabled by Twitter, to Apples Genius bar which gives us live, breathing and fairly smart people to help us when a human touch is needed. David Armano

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/

Organizations will work tirelessly to de-personalize every communication medium they encounter. The public works tirelessly to flee to actual interactions between real people, and our organizations work even more diligently (and with more leverage) to corporatize and anonymize the interactions. The irony, of course, is that an organization with guts can go in the opposite direction and win. Seth Godin http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsolo/

SOMETIMES IT CAN SEEM COUNTER-INTUITIVE

The way to make money on the web is to send them away Dave Winer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/meg/

BUT ITS AN IDEA THAT POWERS SUCCESS

http://www.membersproject.com/

via http://herd.typepad.com/

Like any company we require a profit to stay in business. But it is not the reason we are in business. The thing that has not changed from day one is the desire to make people think about the world we live in. This is, and always will be, why we are in business. Cardigan Bays 2nd biggest clothing company

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramonk/ http://www.kiva.org/

Project 10 (to the 100th) is a call for ideas to change the world, in the hope of helping as many people as possiblewe think helping people is a good thing, and empowering people to help others is an even better thingwe have committed $10 million to fund up to five ideas.

I think all advertisers should do this. Right now. Every single one. Take $10 million of your advertising budget and steal the idea and help change the world. Faris Yakob
http://farisyakob.typepad.com/blog/2008/09/the-more-the-merrier.html

"If we don't get it right, we're fundamentally screwed. Ian Yolles, Nau

Since its beginning in May 2006, TOMS has given over 10,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina and 50,000 pairs in South Africa through the purchases of our caring customers. In 2008 TOMS plans to give 200,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world. For every pair of shoes you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. One for one.

Don't worry, you can still make money. That is, as long as it's not the only thing on your mind. The cluetrain manifesto
http://www.flickr.com/photos/velo_city/

There's a massive tectonic shift rocking the economic landscapethe boardroom's first and most important task is simply to try always and everywhere do less evil. In the dismal language of economics: as interaction explodes, the costs of evil are starting to outweigh the benefits. Umair Haque

Let's turn this into the important advertising trend of 2009let's do GOOD THINGS. Faris Yakob

http://farisyakob.typepad.com/blog/2008/09/not-members-only.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22499211@N00/

Resources and Inspiration:

Umair Haquehttp://www.havasmedialab.com/ Mark Earlshttp://herd.typepad.com/ Paul Isaksonhttp://paulisakson.typepad.com/planning/ Faris Jakobhttp://farisyakob.typepad.com/ Eaon Pritchardhttp://www.eaonpritchard.blogspot.com/ David Armanohttp://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/ Seth Godinhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/ Asi Sharabihttp://no-mans-blog.com/ JP Rangaswamihttp://confusedofcalcutta.com/ Paul Grahamhttp://www.paulgraham.com/ Charles Frithhttp://www.charlesfrith.com/

Only Dead Fish http://neilperkin.typepad.com/