Comments on: Does the Best Marketing Go Unnoticed?

By: Ann Handley

Ann Handley — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 15:06:17 +0000

Agreed, Mack — great podcast, Jackie. Thanks for flagging it. You guys do a great job with podcast production — and the content was really interesting. Great story there.
And Mack….nice teaser for your next post! : )

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 14:49:52 +0000

Jackie thanks for the heads-up about the podcast, here is the link for everyone else:
http://www.conferencecallsunlimited.com/podcast/ChurchoftheCustomer/ChurchoftheCustomer-01-10-06.mp3
Great podcast, loved the ‘A-Team’ story While I love the ‘we aren’t marketing’ idea behind The Favorites and The Fiskateers (and I absolutely LOVE how passionate the Fiskateers are about this movement), I think there’s maybe a bigger issue here, and one I’m not going to go into now, but will with my next post here at DF.

By: Jackie Huba

Jackie Huba — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 06:47:07 +0000

Mack,
This idea of marketing that doesn’t seem like marketing is called “marketing without fingerprints” by the folks at Maker’s Mark Bourbon. We interviewed the Maker’s Mark CEO earlier this year for our podcast and he talks about their 250,000 strong Ambassador program. He explains that the program helps to authentically embrace their fans in way that doesn’t look like the marketing department had their hands all over it.

By: J.D.

J.D. — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 06:52:10 +0000

Hey Mack I just wrote about a band called Anberlin that’s doing something similar with the “beta testing.” They’re already signed, but still putting these things into practice.
Good post.

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 19:32:20 +0000

“We’re going to try something relatively new and have “beta testing” for our new songs and new versions of old songs. Subscribers to our new RSS feed (which will have all our old subscribers plus new ones, once we announce the service and where we’re hosting it) will get these “beta” versions (demos, really) of the songs, and we’re going to set up a feedback section on our site for people to give us their ideas on how to make the album better.”
Very interesting. BTW here’s something, we keep hearing hints at how the ‘buzz’ over MySpace may be fading, are you seeing any shift in response from your MySpace community more toward your website, or not?

By: Tim Jackson

Tim Jackson — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:39:57 +0000

Jeremy, that’s an awesome concept and I can’t wait to see more of it. You are making great strides in crafting something that is “bigger than you”, but still a part of you. That’s amazing.
I agree Mack. Great dialog here… wow.

By: Jeremy Botter

Jeremy Botter — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:25:39 +0000

I actually meant to talk about this yesterday, but I forgot.
We self-released our EP as a podcast, for free. Each song was a different “show” and subscribers automatically had the album downloaded, piece by piece, when we released it. Blogs picked it up, the tech community picked it up, and to date we have passed 10,000 downloads of the ENTIRE album.
The response was so strong that we’ve decided to expand the EP to ten songs and release a full album, featuring remixed and reworked versions of the songs on the EP. We’re going to try something relatively new and have “beta testing” for our new songs and new versions of old songs. Subscribers to our new RSS feed (which will have all our old subscribers plus new ones, once we announce the service and where we’re hosting it) will get these “beta” versions (demos, really) of the songs, and we’re going to set up a feedback section on our site for people to give us their ideas on how to make the album better. We really want to craft this thing so that people have a hand in it, because if the people who listen to us can give us feedback that will make them want to listen to our music more, then we feel the album will be stronger as a whole. And besides, there’s the whole community thing; people around the world will have had a hand in the creation of this record when it’s all said and done, and to me that’s a pretty amazing thing.
I guess this is marketing, but it doesn’t feel like it. If anything, it feels more like Tara Hunt’s Pinko Marketing concept. I don’t want to talk AT listeners, I want to talk WITH them and listen to them. I have these music discussions with friends all the time. We talk about what we would have done differently or why the mix sounds like crap or why the guitar parts sound too cheesy or loud. If we can get that kind of feedback from people, I think our music will be stronger as a whole.
I have no idea if any of this is going to work or not, but it sounds like a better way of going about things than just releasing an album and expecting people to pay $15 for it.

By: Mack Collier

Mack Collier — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:02:10 +0000

If there was ever a case of input from commenters making the post, this is it. So many great quotes, here’s a few that stuck out to me:
From Stephenie: “One point that was made perfectly clear to us is that we are crafters first, employees second. We are never to compromise our crafting to fit their wants and needs. We are encouraged to be true to ourselves and just talk about our lives, mostly, but also about scrapping.”
Bingo. This shows that BoF and Fiskars wanted this movement to be AUTHENTIC. That’s the key, it is SO difficult for companies to willingly put the wants and needs of the community first, but Fiskars was brave enough to do that here, and I think that’s a big reason why The Fiskateers is having the success that it is.
May adds: “Seeing marketing folks talking about us blows my mind”.
I think The Fiskateers is going to be a case-study for effective marketing moving forward. Fiskars found passionate community members and empowered them to market for them. Actually the ‘marketing’ is indirect at best. As Stephenie said, The Fiskateers are really just blogging about their lives. In doing so, Fiskars and their products do get some ancillary promotion. But the key again is, it’s authentic. This isn’t a commercial, it’s honest communication.
This is the way smart companies are going to have to go moving forward, because communities are now smart enough to tell an advertisement from an attempt to communicate.
Finally, Jeremy brings it all home with this: “I think it’s just better to have a community than a fanbase.”.
Amen. For companies, you can substitute the word ‘customers’ for ‘fanbase’. The idea is, KNOW the people that are buying your product. Talk to them, let their feedback shape your processes, and let YOUR feedback help them better understand how you are marketing to them.
Fiskars gets this. Other companies better be paying attention, because the future is staring them in the face.

By: Tim Jackson- Masiguy

Tim Jackson- Masiguy — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:12:19 +0000

Wow, Mack, you really got a great dialog going on with this post. Talk about your beloved “community”! Wow!
Spike, Jeremy, Stephenie and May- thank you all for coming to this party and sharing your thoughts and visions. On a very, very selfish level, it validates everything I have been doing in my own efforts. You are all talking about doing the same things that I do (or try to) and the same premise that I have been working with, but because it was a concept that I ran with on my own I never embraced it as being “smart” or “relevant” until I began to read more about other folks doing similar things. To me, it just seemed like common sense, so I thought “how could it be right or actually work if it is this simple?”
Spike’s comments about movements needing time to grow is one of the most important in this dialog, I think. Nothing good ever happens instantly. Allowing time for seeds to sprout from the soil and for the plant to bear fruit is difficult for a lot of marketers or companies… but that is what success needs.
Sorry for the ramble…

By: May

May — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 00:49:56 +0000

It’s so interesting for me to read through all this. I’m just a crafter who’s found her calling. And my phone won’t stop ringing. Store owners and consumers are so happy to see us, and the blog keeps them connected.
Seeing marketing folks talking about us blows my mind, but I try not to think about it or let the scale of this thing get into my brain. Back to booking my 5 state tour I’m doing next month… yes. A crafting tour.