The Art of Marketing Sheds Light on the State of Marketing

The Art of Marketing was held in Toronto on March 7, 2011. The Art of Marketing is a one day conference features five internationally renowned bestselling authors and leaders, who will share an exciting blend of cutting edge thinking and real world experience on today’s most critical marketing issues.

Below I will be covering 3 out of the 5 speakers which presented and the key, actionable takeaways from the event. This is an in depth break down.

Jeffrey Hazlett – Tell Your Story and Deliver a Promise 

Jeffrey Hazlett is the Former CMO, Eastman Kodak Company & Bestselling Author, The Mirror Test. Hazlett is convinced the audience that a brand is nothing more than a promise delivered. When you purchase an Apple product, there are expectations of what you’ll receive for your overpriced computer (don’t hate the player, hate the game).

Hazlett explored the idea of asking “What’s your 118?” Hazlett was referring to the situation where an elevator pitch consists of a 110 seconds opportunity to pitch and 8 second to sell. Personally, I feel this is touchy-feely marketing stuff for his book but the moral is to keep it short and sweet.

Most important thing I learned was it used to be about eyeballs & ears but the game now is about hearts and minds. Gary Vaynerchuck’s talk was the perfect precursor to his talk. Hazlett exposes the fact that if memories aren’t shared, they lose their power. Kodak doesn't sell cameras, they sell emotions and memories. That's their DNA. This is very powerful.

Dr. Sheena Iyengar – Choice and Action

Dr. Iyengar is a Columbia University Business Professor & Bestselling Author, The Art of Choosing. Dr. Iyengar discussed three causes of choice overload: cognitive overload, indistinguishable option and pressure of self expression.

Cognitive overload is the concept of providing far too many choices where the mind cannot logically comprehend the variety of options. Indistinguishable option is the lack of understanding which option is optimal based on the scenario. The pressure of self reflection, the most interesting for me, is the act of communicating who you are with your actions. Dr. Iyengar explained the association of our individual actions to how we would like to be interpreted. This includes what brands you buy, how you react around the products/services you purchase and even, how you position yourself on Twitter.

Her solution: 4 C’s àcut, create, categorize and condition consumers to complexity. I wish I could dive deeper into her talk but you’ll find in depth insights here.

Guy Kawasaki – Enchantment

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple.

I have to be honest: I’m a “bieber girl” when it comes to Guy Kawasaki. His presence alone was electric! Kawasaki came in from a full day at the Steam Whistle Brewery before his keynote; to say he was in a light mood was an understatement!

His presentation contained 10 steps to enchantment. Here are the points listed with a sneak peek of the content:

Step 1: Achieve Likeability. With the example of Mari Smith, Guy depicted the meaning of a duchenne smile; an honest and genuine smile leaving your eyes twinkling. His supportive advice: wrinkles are a good thing!

Step 2: Trust Worthiness. Amazon has a policy in place to return a kindle book in 4 business days. If people were evil, they could “borrow” the worlds’ books for that time period, devour it and ask for a return. Yet, Kindle is one of the biggest eBook platforms. His message: bake don't eat. An eater wants the largest piece of the pie. A baker’s mindset is instead, “If I run out of pies, I can just bake more pies, and make BIGGER pies!”

Step 3: Get Ready. Create a great product or service using DICEE:

• Deep: the problem is understood thoroughly and long term solutions are clear.
• Intelligent: create solutions that are smart. The reaction from users should be: “Wow! Some one understood my problem better than I did.”
• Complete: provide as much of a complete package as possible with software, documentation, plugins, etc. This goes against Seth Godin’s “just ship” mindset, but valuable to keep in mind when masterminding your minimum viable product.
• Empowering: it needs to add value. It can motivate the user, make them more productive, creative, generate sales, etc. Your product has to take them from where they currently are to a destination they have been craving to get to.
• Elegant: Guy talked about beauty but I feel it goes beyond that. When components are discarded or intentionally ignored, messages are diluted to a few key messages, making it elegant.

Step 4: Launch. Guy emphasized the importance of telling a story. Guy shared his strategy of planting many seeds by not only targeting New York Times and other big hitters but attempting to enchant “lonelyboy15” to share their views.

Step 5: Overcome Resistance. Your business is “unique” and faces its own obstacles. A few ways of overcoming resistance is providing social proof and finding a bright spot. Guy shed light on Mexico and Ethiopia’s history. Long story short, Mexico supported Ethiopia in a time of desperation; 50 years later, even though Ethiopia was facing a state of famine, they supported Mexico during their time of need.

Step 6: Endure. Your brand must endure generations. Invoke reciprocation. Guy suggested the optimal answer to a “thank you” isn’t a bland “your welcome.” Instead, it is “I know you would do the same!” So powerful!

Step 7: Present. Customize the introduction to your audience. Guy spent the first 10 minutes of his presentation talking about how much he loves hockey, how he spent time at the Steam Whistle Brewery and even pitched to get an intro who knew Justin Beiber for an autograph for his daughter (props to @CasieStewart for volunteering to make that happen!). Guy also discussed his 10-20-30 presentation setup; 10 slides, 20 minutes and 30 point font.

Step 8: Use Technology. Guy urged to remove the speed bumps like captchas; more speed bumps = more friction in an action being committed. Theoretically, Guy advised to respond within 24 hours.

Step 9: Enchant Up. Enchanting up is possible. One way to do it is if a deadline is provided for 4 days from now, do it in 1, send over progress and ask for guidance. This illustrates a level of commitment and dedication to your role which is admirable from your direct senior. Another suggestion is to deliver bad news early ensuring it’s never a surprise. When delivering bad news, outline a solution with specific action steps.

Step 10: Enchant Down. A challenge for many, Guy has created a “MAP” to follow:

• Mastery: provide ways to master new, relevant skills that enhances their performance
• Autonomy: the mindset should be clear, “We do not micro manage. We provide an independent environment to succeed.”
• Purpose: there must be a higher purpose to their work. Take steps to make the world a better place. And when all else fails, three words: suck it up!

I have been to the “Art of” events before and I have to say, the high quality of speakers and their actionable takeaways left me satisfied. To learn more about the event and be notified of the upcoming “Art of” events, visit www.theartofmarketing.ca.

PS: Sorry Guy. I just completely ripped off your presentation! Attempting to enchant our readers!