Author: Fabrizio

On-demand advertising

FabrizioLeave a comment

I am shopping for a new car, and only today I spent a couple of hours looking for a good option for my family and myself.

With all the content and ads we are exposed to nowadays, I find it puzzling that there is no single space on the internet where I can go, say what I am looking for and get a number of customised (i.e., based on the needs and wants I would state) offers from different dealers.

We have been sold the idea of behavioural advertising (i.e., ads based on where I have been and what I have done on the internet) and of contextual advertising (i.e., ads based on where I am on the internet). Businesses got lazy, and forgot about the arts of asking and (really) listening.

Of course, when you ask and listen, there are two things happening that possibly get businesses (and marketing departments) into troubles.

First of all, you have to deliver. On-demand advertising would mean that when the customer expresses their needs and wants, you need to have a single matching offer to meet those (rather than having a range of offers that may bend customer’s needs and wants).

Second, you have to be the best. While many different businesses can ran ads on the same topic and find solace in some more or less meaningless metrics (reach, impressions, engagement, click-throughs, conversions, and so on), on-demand advertising would have one winner only. The one who gets the deal.

Who will listen?

FabrizioLeave a comment

ABC is the trend-setting original German working glove, packed with innovative state-of-the-art technologies and super features.
ABC working gloves are the only one in the world to be equipped with the new and revolutionary anti-penetration material PATENTIX® – a high-tech, ultra-strong and lightweight textile felt. The material was originally developed in the United States as part of a special project for the US elite soldiers, Navy Seals, who would use bulletproof vests that were particularly lightweight and flexible.
The integrated PATENTIX® safety layer in the XYZ32 model shown, weighs only 32 grams and is thus 55% lighter compared to other textile anti-penetration layers used in working gloves. Finally a working glove without side effects! See, feel and try ABC at selected stores http://www.abc.com

Ad in airline magazine

It can be argued that the ad is not for me. That I do not belong to the target audience, as I am not a person who uses working gloves in the workplace. It can also be that people using working gloves in the workplace, or people buying working gloves to be used in the workplace, will immediately get the benefits of a working glove without side effects, and will then rush to the website and the selected stores to buy it.

And yet, there is a better way to make our audience understand what we stand for, what our product stands for. While most brands out there use the name of their products, the alphanumeric codes and acronyms of their models, the meaningless label of a registered trademark, and an endless list of pointless features, we could start by saying what all of it means to those who will have to chose between our product and all of the alternatives, and then use it day in and day out.

Sure, it takes a lot more effort. But if all we talk about is ourselves, who will listen?

P.S.: I have replaced the parts that could more directly identify the brand in the ad. Those parts are underlined.

Begin with listening

FabrizioLeave a comment

An important reminder by Bernadette Jiwa.

If you want to be listened, begin with listening.

If you want to be heard, begin with hearing.

If you want to lead, begin with opening to the people you want to lead.

If you want to sell something, begin with understanding the people you want to sell to.

It is that easy.

The illusion

FabrizioLeave a comment

The first time I was in a leadership role, I struggled very much to understand the unwanted consequences of what a leader says and does.

The illusion is often that you can still behave like a peer, or a friend.

Yet people will look for direction, not for jokes. They will look for reassurance, not for stress. They will look for development, not for undirected and generic feedback.

Grasp this soon when you become a leader, and understand that your words and actions are now under a different type of scrutiny. The whole team will benefit from it.

Growing managers

Fabrizio1 Comment

There’s a fairly common practice in growing start-ups.

When the headcount ramps up and a more complicated structure is needed, the natural tendency is to promote founders or early stage employees into managerial roles. This happens only marginally because people making or vetting the decision believe those employees are the best for the job. Most of the time, the promotion is seen as a reward: after all, the person has been with the company when things were getting started, typically a difficult moment to be in.

There’s a problem with that, though. The skills needed to do your job are considerably different from the skills needed to have others do their jobs.

In this [new] capacity you have plenty of work to do yourself: setting strategy, hiring and firing, coaching and development, obtaining necessary resources, making certain decisions while delegating others, and embodying the culture you wish to foster.

Ed Batista

Most growing companies ignore this problem, and end up in a situation in which a hiatus develops between managers and employees. Managers are not willing to find the time to do what they are supposed to do, employees are left alone and in the blind. Eventually, one of two things will happen: growth will flatline, as managers factually act as bottlenecks; or value will be destroyed, as negative working culture spreads (think Uber).

Founders and early stage employees can (and should) still be rewarded, but if it is decided to promote them into managerial roles, the company should at least make sure they understand their new responsibilities and get appropriate training and mentoring to deliver on the expectations of their newly formed teams.