TechFold - Bold tech & web commentary

Bold tech & web commentary

TechFold is technology discussion, commentary, reviews, and opinions from well outside the valley. There's no koolaid to drink here, and TechFold is not in SL, or on Twitter.

Seth Godin’s Got Sweet Spot Marketing Wrong

I’m a contrarian jerk sometimes. So when I read Seth Godin’s (who I’m a long time fan of, btw) article about Sweet Spot Marketing tonite, my hackles were raised. In it, Seth opines:

“Bloggers around the world are discovering that it’s cheaper and faster and more effective to build their own media channel than it is to waste time arguing with the old ones. So I guess my advice would be to either build your product and network along the way to align with exactly what the middlemen want… or reject them and live/thrive without them.” [from Seth Godin]

Seth’s point is that we shouldn’t bother trying to find the “sweet spot” to get traditional media channel coverage (i.e.: tailoring your subject matter and publisher selection to get in the NYT book review, on Oprah, or whathaveyou).

IMHO: The concept of sweet spot marketing hasn’t changed, just the sweet spots. Yup, its true - if you’re seeking controlled growth (i.e.: a sustainable living, as opposed to accidental success or a flash in the pan), you’re still going to be looking for the sweet spot. 15 years ago, you tried to get your product/article/whatever in your local paper on on the radio morning show; now you’re tailoring your headlines to be Diggable, or writing tub thumping info-war missives to get on Boing Boing. Same difference.

The arbiters of popularity and success may be changing, but success and popularity will always (to a degree) have arbiters. Few and far between are those who can truly refuse to play the game and enjoy success.

godin, marketing seth

Seth’s Day Old Sushi

Seth - I wanted to point out that your day old sushi example is great illustration of how the lines between marketing and operations work to the detriment of businesses large and small. Certainly a sushi counter is a pretty small example, but they key question to ask (in my mind) is…

If the counter staff are discounting or throwing away old product regularly, why are the operational staff over-producing?

Is it a failure of communications between the front and back of the store? Front/Back, Marketing/Operations, Whatever/Whatever, should be transparent to each other. Many businesses seem to lurch from one decision to another because arbitrary organizational divisions interfere with communications. The sushi counter is a microcosmic example of such. Blogging (in a corporate setting) is one way to work around those divisions.

blogging, organizational theory, seth, sethgodin sushi

Apple + Untarnished Image - a note to Seth

Seth, in response to Alignment, I wanted to point out that Apple has a long track record of not publically admitting mistakes and problems - a policy that has served them well in creating a powerfully clean brand perception despite the issues common to all manufacturers (battery issues, QC, etc.).

apple, seth sethgodin