Post #9: Deciding Which Markets to Enter

Hello,

I hope you are well. This week in class we went over chapter fifteen, which discusses global marketing. Much of the text describes how marketers need to prepare for the differences in culture if their company wants to market internationally. In previous posts I have discussed communication and the importance of tailoring messages for certain markets. That importance holds true for the international market and, of course, for you in all of your markets.There is a section in the chapter titled, “Deciding Which Markets to Enter”, and although it explicitly explains this decision process for companies entering the global marketplace, I’m going to put my usual personal spin on it.

This is a post that should prove to be helpful for students of all disciplines because it will provide a perspective on how to approach the looming decisions of the uncertain future. To provide this perspective, here is an account of my recent years of decision-making:

I decided to attend Saint Michael’s College because it fit my criteria – small, New England, Catholic, liberal arts, business program, music program. I decided to be a business major because it fit my interests. After my first year, I decided to add a major in religious studies and a minor in classics because they both fit my evolving interests. These academic decisions were all based on what I was interested in at the time. And my interests evolved as I became involved in more and more subjects and extracurricular activities, and as I met new people.

One major point that I have is that all you have to act on are the interests that you have right now. I came into college as a business major, and now I am planning on studying theology in graduate school. I have always decided which markets to enter by acting on my interests at that time. I think that trying to speculate what you might be interested in is risky business. Why not go with what you are already interested in? It is also risky to be confident in your career path without having an experience in that field - act on your interest to see if you like it. Another major point, as illustrated by my personal experience, is that you should expect your interests to change – especially while in college. I have heard that up to 80% of college students will change their major (at least once). Therefore, if you haven't changed your major, ask yourself, "Why?" I'm not saying that you have to change your major, but it is interesting that four out of five students will.

So don’t always focus on the job market. Think about all of the markets that you have the option to enter in college. Act on the interests that you have right now. Focus on developing the product – you – before you decide to enter a certain job market. Make sure you can be comfortable adapting. When you decide which markets to enter (internships, summer programs, majors, colleges, graduate schools), act on your current interests. You will never know your future interests until you act on your current interests.

Enjoy the week,

Tim

Post #8: Crowdsourcing

Welcome back,

First off, I hope you like the new layout. If you have any comments about it, please let me know! This week was chapter eight – my chapter. My group presented the chapter in class, and we used some interesting websites (thanks Professor!) to illustrate the concepts. One of the websites is called Trendhunter.com. This website is dedicated to finding the newest trends because their philosophy is that anything mainstream isn’t a trend anymore. The feature that we used is their New Ventures and Start-Ups section, and we had students look through the different ideas and identify which ones they might invest in.

The concept we were aiming to highlight was the New Product Development Process. The steps in the cycle are:

In particular, we wanted to illustrate idea generation and idea screening. Our textbook mentions that usually a company will have to go through hundreds or even thousands of ideas before it finds one that it wants to pursue. And then once a company has found an idea, their will most likely be hundreds of versions of that one idea. It is often a long process (those are just the first two stages).

Another concept that I think is worth mentioning is crowdsourcing. It goes along with idea generation and it simple means to invite broad communities of people – customers, employees, independent scientists and researchers, and even the public at large – into the new-product innovation process. One story of crowdsourcing that I found to be very interesting is in regards to Netflix. When Netflix was having trouble with the user interface for its Cinematch recommendation feature, it offered a prize of $1 million for the best solution. Netflix ended up with 51,000 ideas – that’s $19.60 per idea! To get 51,000 people working for your company is absolutely remarkable in my opinion. It’s a whole new level of capturing value!

So, the next question, hopefully naturally by now, is, “How can Tim tie this into personal branding?” In the spirit of viewing yourself and your ideas as a product, crowdsourcing can be of valuable application. It certainly ties in with communicating your brand with others in order to promote it, but the focus is more on refining than promoting. The New Ventures and Start-Ups section is a perfect example. The ideas are not only being promoted, but they are being screened and refined. Ideas receive ratings of popularity, activity, and freshness. The only thing missing is a feature for people to provide direct feedback.

The main point that I want you to consider is that crowdsourcing is a critical concept. It's a lot like taking a survey. I think it especially helps the development process in terms of identifying if the product is realistic, if there is a need for it, and if it is worth developing. If you are still buying into the product = you concept, then I want to emphasize the idea of refinement again. Crowdsourcing can help you to be constantly improving your ideas, brand, and life, I would argue, by leading an effort of staying current - trying to be a trendhunter. If you can know what the trends are in your industry or field, you can be ahead of the game. But if you can know what the trends are in other industries and fields, it will inform your understanding even more and refine your ideas and decisions. I find that to be undoubtedly true having been through nearly three years of a liberal arts education. When you see the many different ways of how different facets of life are connected, it can really change your perspective.

I hope that makes some sense. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I would write, "If you want to improve your personal brand, learn as much as possible about as many subjects as possible (crowdsource!) so that you can be aware of where you fit best and why." Get as many perspectives as possible so that you can appeal to as many perspectives as possible and create the best version of your product - you! That is certainly an angle of how and why to capture value.

Truly,

Tim

Post #7: Packaging Your Brand

Hello there,

For this post, I’m going to test out another metaphor. Continuing to view a person as a product, I have tried to relate four product attributes to the product that is you and your ideas. I think packaging lends a particularly interesting perspective.

Branding

It has come up in previous posts. In fact, just a couple posts ago I wrote about my own personal brand. I think the core of branding is understanding who you are and what you have to offer. To use Karen Kang’s example, the largest part of branding is the cake. Now I’ll move on to the icing. But before that, click on the picture for one of my favorite moments in cartoon history.

Packaging

The icing starts with how you present yourself, and, even more importantly, if you present yourself. In my experience, I've observed that many people don’t like to and sometimes dread talking about their ideas. I used to be one of those people, just ask my family. I never liked to talk very much. My sister would even get frustrated with me because I would never talk about my day at school in any detail. “How was your day, Tim?” “Good.” “What’d you do?” “Nothing really. Just had my regular classes and then practice.” “What did you learn in class today?” “Oh, not much.”etc.

It was a painstaking process just to get me to give any detail about anything. My dad, on the other hand, will tell you all sorts of information without even being asked a question. I’ll call home some nights and he’ll just start taking about his day. So how do you package yourself? Are you like an ink cartridge where someone will inevitably need to find scissors before they even try to open? Or are you like a bag of chips?

If you are reluctant to communicate your good ideas to others, your good ideas will not be communicated to others – not too good. So, my big point here is to be conscious of opportunities to share information with others. Provide details, don’t wait until the third or fourth question to say what you want to say – you might not even get that many chances. Even more of a problem is that you might not want that many questions. In that case, you are in need of a larger perspective change or more confidence that your ideas are good. At any rate, be mindful of your packaging and how accessible you make your brand to others.

Labeling

Similar to packaging, I’d say labeling is the idea of how inviting you make yourself appear, and how you dress. Consistency is important. You never know who you might meet during any particular day. Think about it.

Product Support Services

This concept is not nearly as applicable because it is basically defined by customer service after a purchase. What I will relate it to is staying in touch with “customers” after you have talked with them about your “product”. Don’t be afraid to ask for an email address (or find it) and try to stay in touch with people who express an interest in your ideas. After I concluded my high school career, I sent an email to nearly every teacher I had had since preschool, to express my gratitude and my future plans. I still hear about that today because they appreciated it so much. The main point is not that I’m some goody two-shoes, it’s that staying connected is important and that generally people like being connected – look at Facebook or LinkedIn.

So keep identifying what your ideas are, make sure you have accessible packaging, present yourself consistently, and know that people like to hear about new ideas. I think the packaging piece is particularly worth thinking about.

Until next time,

Tim