External Marketing Firms Offer the Best of Both Worlds

Posted on March 28, 2018 by adriangstewart

Successful marketing is vital for corporate success. Managing the marketing process in today’s digital world  is complex and fraught with difficulties. Which is why large organizations increasingly turn to outside marketing firms for help.

As McKinsey describes it; The teams that deliver these marketing services need to function as an interconnected ‘ecosystem.’ An early decision is figuring out what to handle internally and what to outsource to an external partner. Core competencies such as strategy are best handled by the brand, while execution functions and experimenting with new media or channels can be handled by external partners.

McKinsey & Company

Why do well known brands work with firms like, OOKII Company, to help stimulate their marketing process? There are a number of reasons – here are some of the main ones.

  • Discrete project-based work– such as a new product introduction.
  • Specialism beats one size fits all – outside partners can tap into a wealth of specialists and manage those efforts.
  • Guerrilla not gorilla – external firms can often cut through the all too familiar bureaucracy that limits larger organizations.
  • It’s not just about more horsepower – Large organizations can sometimes find it hard to see the wood for the trees. The top talent in an external firm  brings new ideas and approaches.
  • Who dares wins – outside partners are unhampered by the internal politics of a larger company.

The need for discrete project-based work

More brands are moving marketing work in-house. To some extent this is because companies want to respond quickly to execute on digital advertising campaigns, such as content marketing and social media channels. (see previous post on PESO).

This shift has created more opportunity for small firms to pitch and win well defined, one-off projects, and when done well, to then leverage this initial project into follow on work. To do this successfully you need to have expertise in scoping projects and then managing those projects to a successful conclusion. Systems such as TSheets will enable you to track actual hours against budget and report out in detail to the company you are working with when it comes to invoicing time.

Specialism beats one size fits all

When working on projects marketers will want to hire the very best – and by the best we mean agencies that have specific experience that relates to the project under discussion. Companies who retail leather sofas using consumer finance will ideally want to find a partner who has prior experience of exactly that.  This is partly because there isn’t time to onboard a new agency and get the team up to speed for a one off discrete project.  And partly because it de-risks the project, improving the chance of success.

External firms need to be crystal clear about what differentiates them, this differentiation will be supported by appropriate credentials (case studies & white papers) and team members who have in depth expertise in the sector.

Guerrilla not gorilla

Large external partners inevitably have more processes, approvals and generally more internal inertia than smaller agencies. Companies already have to navigate their own bureaucratic systems and approvals want to partner with more nimble partners.  Big brands with big vision work with OOKII Company because we share their perspective and values, not their size. It’s a change not unlike the agile development process that swept through the software industry.

  • Individuals and Interactions over processes and tools
  • Working solutions over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a rigid plan

It’s not just about more horsepower.

Companies want more than just foot soldiers when they engage with smaller marketing firms. They want to work alongside experienced principals who can add to their corporate perspective and bring new and innovative insights to customer comprehension. Once the strategy is defined             it shouldn’t be delegated to less experienced staffers to delivery.

Who dares wins.

Increasingly, the best and most talented marketing professionals are setting up their own firms. Larger companies enjoy working with this high level talent, talent that is often just not accessible in larger agencies that have been absorbed into a holding company model. This external talent is unhampered (for the most part) by the internal politics on the client organisation. They are often willing to take risks that the in house team would be averse to taking.

Conclusion

The traditional notion of managing a single media agency with one or two creative agencies of record seems like a relic from ancient marketing history. Today’s world features multiple channels and capabilities, all of which need to be closely coordinated to be effective.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

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GDPR Compliance Becomes Mandatory on May 25th. Are You Ready?

Posted on February 8, 2018 by adriangstewart

If you have customers in the European Union then you need to be fully aware of GDPR and prepared for its introduction later this year.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect on May 25, 2018, all companies including international firms—doing business with individuals located in EU member nation territory must comply with the law’s far-reaching provisions.

Companies are not exempt from the GDPR just because they don’t have offices in the EU region or don’t process data in an EU member state: Failure to prepare for the regulation could have serious consequences to a company’s bottom line – businesses will face staggering fines from the regulators of up to 4 per cent of global annual turnover or €20m ($23.75m), whichever is greater. Together with the associated negative impact on customer relationships and brand reputation.

The GDPR regulation becomes enforceable from 25 May 2018 after a two-year transition period and, unlike an EU directive, it does not require national governments to pass any enabling legislation, and is thus directly binding and applicable. Brexit wont exempt UK companies, the new regulations will be integrated into UK law after Brexit, in a new data protection bill.

The volume of data that is being collected and stored every year is astronomic and growing. IDC forecasts that by 2025 the Global Datasphere will reach 163 trillion gigabytes, ten times more than in 2016.

IDC Data Age 2025 study April 2017

IDC Data Age 2025 study April 2017

What will change for US companies who have customers in the EU?

Under GDPR, companies will have to document all the “personal data” they store, so they can either hand it over or delete it on request. There has been much discussion about what “personal” means, but GDPR will tighten the criteria:

Social media and other consumer-facing technology businesses say new consent rules will be extremely difficult to implement. Under GDPR, companies will no longer be allowed to hide behind what the EU calls “silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity”, for the most part companies remain reluctant to alarm their users with warnings about data use.

The GDPR aims to protect individuals and their personal data through unified, modernized standards, and a set of meaningful rights for individuals. Some of the key GDPR obligations include:

  • Condition for consent, mandating that organizations obtain explicit consent to gather information from individuals (known as data subjects) – and be able to prove that they have done so. Consent is limited to specific purposes, and data subjects have the right to withdraw consent at any time.
  • Right to access and obtain data, allowing data subjects to request access to information held about them, and to learn how their personal data is accessed, the purpose of the access, where it is being accessed, what categories of data are being accessed and who has access.
  • Right to erasure, giving data subjects the right to request the deletion of personal data if they do not wish to allow its use.
  • Right to rectification and objection to profiling, granting data subjects the right to request corrections in personal data if it is inaccurate and allowing them to object to profiling that may result in discrimination against them.

Next Steps

If you haven’t already done so, your organisation needs to conduct a GDPR readiness assessment. A quick Google search will reveal a good number of organizations willing to help you with that, from IBM down to your local IT consulting firm.

If that sounds like jumping in at the deep end, Microsoft offers a GDPR Assessment via a quick, online self-evaluation tool (26 questions) available at no cost, to help your organization review its overall level of readiness to comply with the GDPR. Link to online assessment.

Brand reputation and customer relationships. Engage with your PR and marketing comms. agency to develop a communications program designed to reassure customers, employees, suppliers and investors that you are addressing GDPR. Silence might imply ignorance of GDPR and as you now know the financial consequences to an organization of ignorance could be disastrous even fatal. An effective communications program will help ensure that dark GDPR thoughts and the associated risk aren’t entering into the minds of your stakeholders.

Resources:

  • The full regulation. It’s 88 pages long and has 99 articles.
  • The ICO’s guide to GDPR is essential for both consumers and those working within businesses.
  • EU GDPR is the Union’s official website for the regulation. It details all you need to know and has a handy countdown clock for when GDPR will come into force.
  • The EU’s Article 29 data protection group is publishing guidelines on data breach notifications, transparency, and subject access requests.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

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OOKII Company Explains How to Survive and Thrive at CES 2018

Posted on December 15, 2017 by adriangstewart

Each year OOKII Company helps both new and established high tech companies generate outstanding media coverage for their products and brand at CES. This year we decided to share with you the challenges of CES and some of OOKII Company’s tried and tested strategies for a successful CES.

‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat!’

CES IS BIG (2017 stats.)

4,000+ exhibiting companies and over 2.6 million sq. ft. of exhibitor space.

CES MEDIA COVERAGE

Almost 60,000 media mentions and more than 69 billion potential media impressions in January alone.

OVERALL ATTENDANCE

Industry Attendees          109,498

Exhibitor Personnel         67,321

Media                        7,460               

 

Deciding to attend and booking a booth at CES is but the first small step. The biggest challenge still remains – and that is getting your product in front of the right people.

1 – Defining Your Message and Media Audience

You will need to craft a story that breaks through the CES media clutter. Unless you are planning to unveil a functioning cold fusion reactor, you are going to need to invest a significant amount of time deciding exactly how to get that media attention. Start by thinking about it from the journalist’s perspective, most journalists receive hundreds of unsolicited new pitches every day, and even more during CES week. While we all like to believe what we have created is truly unique, so do all the other CES exhibitors. You will need to craft a truly compelling story that resonates with the media audience you’re looking to engage with. This is very useful, because if you think about it, not all 7,460 journalists are going to be interested in your product, so figure out who would be interested and focus on those.

At the same time consider the audiences those media journalists and influencers are looking to reach and engage with. Explore the various use cases that end-customers can imagine for your product. How do they see your product integrating into their daily lives? Once you truly understand that part of the puzzle you can have a more meaningful conversation with a journalist about your product and how it relates to his/her readership.

Ensure all press messaging and assets are locked down by Thanksgiving, once the holiday is over journalists begin to think about CES. Which means your press messaging and photo/video assets need to ready before then, because you now have other things to focus on.

A glimpse of the organized chaos that is CES

A glimpse of the organized chaos that is CES

2 – Setting up Media Meetings

As you can imagine CES is extremely busy and noisy, asking journalists to drop in at your booth during the show is of limited value to you. As well as a booth on the exhibition floor you will also need a private meeting room, close to or even on the exhibition floor. This is where you will be scheduling your media meetings. In this quiet controlled environment, the journalist can give you and your product his/her undivided attention and together you can have a meaningful conversation. Trust us, the journalist will welcome the opportunity to sit down and re-hydrate

while watching a demo and asking questions. Journalists don’t become respected by copy pasting press releases. This meeting is where journalists ask questions and start to formulate what their angle will be with their readerships/followers. You and your team can help facilitate that by providing the journalists with they need; images, video clips, quotations, samples, demonstrations, case studies and access to your senior management at the show.

This process should start as soon as the CES media list is released in November. If you wait until December, you will be behind the pack and it will be hard to get slots in the journalists CES schedule. Don’t be too rigid, journalists often prefer to offer a window of time rather than a specific time.

Remember those other 3,999 exhibitors are now your competitors for media mind share. Journalists will appreciate you reaching out ahead of the show because the show is too big for them to see everything they want. The earlier you can get a product on a journalist’s dance card the better.

Whoever calls journalists needs to be thoroughly briefed about the product, this is one of those rare occasions where promising to get back with an answer probably isn’t going to cut it. Be fully prepared and use the call as an opportunity to earn the journalists confidence, by demonstrating that you know your product, and understand their needs.

One of the things you will be offering journalists is “one on one” access to your senior executives. You may be dealing with multiple executives attending the show each with different schedules of availability for media interviews. One person needs to own this scheduling task as a priority, because it will change during the show. Log all media and key meetings in one schedule, make the schedule accessible to everyone who will be attending the show.

Pre-Show media Events

These events are where you’ll meet the bulk of media attendees.

3 – At the Booth

Product demos need to be choreographed and rehearsed. Booth staff need to be prepared for journalists or camera crews to “drop-in” this usually means you will need a minimum of two spokespeople available on your booth at all times. Articulate and well-presented they must be capable of representing the brand/product on camera. It’s vital that your spokespeople have had media training and command in-depth knowledge about the product. Broadcast media opportunities can happen on the fly at CES, so make sure everyone on your booth knows who the chosen spokespeople are and where they are at all times.

For any high-tech or more complex products, make sure you have a product engineer or technical expert at the booth available to answer in-depth questions. Take the time to role play questions before the show this may reveal topics you don’t want the technical expert to address.

Once the show is underway, make sure booth personnel understand the color coding of the media badges. Don’t be shy about approaching journalists as they go pass your booth. Approach them and invite them into the booth. All booth representatives must be able to explain the product and be fully conversant with the messaging that was developed before the show.

Keep the booth fully stocked with Press Packs and hand them out to anyone from the media who is even vaguely interested.

4 – After the Show

Follow up with everyone you engaged with at the show. Ensure that journalists don’t have any lingering questions from conversations at the show. Make sure everyone has the media assets and quotations that they need for their article. At this stage it’s very easy to drop the ball and lose out on great media opportunities by failing to follow-up with journalists who expressed initial interest in your product. Don’t assume the media you met with will remember your discussion, reach out to them after the show with an email thanking them for their time and letting them know you’re looking forward to working together in the future.

Media analysis. Make sure that you have media tracking in place and that you can follow up with a personalized thank you for everyone that covers your product announcement. This is how you will build credibility and long term media relationships. You may also need to tactfully correct any factual errors.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

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What We Need To Understand About Generation Z

Posted on November 16, 2017 by adriangstewart

The difference between Millennials and Generation Z is important to understand in order to prepare your organization, adapt marketing strategy and refocus recruiting efforts to stay relevant for the future.

Generation Z

Generation Z

The Generations

The underlying belief is that generations share historical or social life experiences, the effects of which are relatively stable over the course of their lives. These life experiences tend to distinguish one generation from another. Because of this, we can’t readily predict when one generation will end, and another will begin or what will be enough of a change to tip us over the edge from one generation into the next.

Broadly accepted age definitions.

  • Generation Z: 16 to 22 (youngest born in 2001)
  • Generation Y (Millennial): 23 to 37 (youngest born in 1994)
  • Generation X: 38 to 51 (youngest born in 1979)
  • Baby Boomers: 52 to 71 (youngest born in 1965)

Social Behavior Online

While a significant aspect of Gen Z is the widespread usage of the Internet from an early age. How members of Gen Z think about the internet is most relevant. Unlike Millennials, Gen Z was born into a world overrun with technology. What was once seen as amazing and inspiring inventions, are now taken as a given for teens. The internet is like electric lighting. It is expected to be available at all times, and it costs so little no one bothers to turn it off.

The research suggests three-quarters of Gen Z uses Facebook with Twitter way behind on 44%. While most Gen. Z use Facebook, they are much more likely than older generations to use Instagram (59% compared to 21%), Snapchat (56% compared to 9%) and Twitch (13% compared to 2%). These platforms have a more integral role in their lives. As illustrated in these quotes.

“Social media is positive. It’s shaped my career. I don’t have a CV. I use Instagram as a CV.”   Elias.

 “It’s not just for connecting with friends – but also building your career. We’re not just using social media for our own vain reasons.”    Emily.

Entrepreneurial Ambitions

Gen Z can quickly and efficiently shift between work and play, with multiple distractions going on in the background…working on multiple tasks at once. This behavior will have a significant impact on the work environment. With that in mind, many in Gen Z plan to create their own work environment. According to Gen Z marketing strategist Deep Patel, “the newly developing high-tech and the highly networked world has resulted in an entire generation thinking and acting more entrepreneurially.” Gen Z desires more independent work environments. Fully 72% of teens say they want to start a business someday. This desire for a new type of work environment is one reason why coworking and providers of coworking environments such as We Work are booming. Coworking is a social gathering of people who are working independently, but who share values, and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with people who value working in the same place alongside each other. Despite older people (including parents) being pessimistic about the future for Gen Z, the people most positive about their future are 16 to 22-year-olds themselves. Among Baby Boomers, 54% thought Gen Z lives would be worse. But only 41% of those actually in Gen Z agreed.

Global Individuality

Gen Z was born social. In fact, nearly 92% of Gen Z has a digital footprint. Arguably as a result of the celebrities and media they follow, Gen Z seeks uniqueness in all walks of life primarily through the brands they do business with, future employers and brands they associate with. 58% of adults worldwide (age 35+) agree that Gen Z today have more in common with their global peers than they do with adults in their own country.  Gen Z will become more global in their thinking, interactions, and relatability. Notable issues which under-22s listed as more important – include prejudice towards LGBTQ+ people, gender equality, and racism.

Brand Loyalty

Gen Z is highly informed and wants to take charge of their lives and their futures. Research shows that trying to gain the loyalty of Gen Z via traditional loyalty programs, cards and promotions is a losing battle. Gen Z is simply much less interested in these things. Getting Gen Z consumers to be loyal to a brick and mortar store will be more challenging than ever. Again research shows that online ordering and delivery are extremely important to Gen Z, and the ability to order online and come into the store to pick it up is, for the first time, declining in importance. The bottom line is that Gen Z expects retailers to get the product to them. Marcie Merriman, executive director of growth strategy at Ernst & Young. “They (Gen Z) expect businesses, brands, and retailers to be loyal to them. If they don’t feel appreciated, they’re going to move on. It’s not about them being loyal to the business.”

Experiences

Products are no longer the cool thing. According to Marcie Merriman “It was cool to save a dollar … and save money and get something really cheap. Through that whole process they’ve (Gen Z) learned the value is not in the product or the thing, it’s in the experience”. Going out to eat or going to an event are examples of this. More importantly, Gen Z  share these types of experiences via social media and that in a way makes them more ‘tangible”.

Value for Money

Gen Z is influencing the way their parents are spending, more than Millennials ever did. They are challenging parents buying decisions. For instance, teens will ask their parents, “How much are you going to pay for that?” The parents may not be price-sensitive, but their Gen Z children are going to educate upwards, whereas, with Millennials, we didn’t see that type of behavior.

Conclusion

By understanding and focusing on Gen Z now, organizations can appeal to both Gen Z and Millennials. However, If you remain focused on just Millennials, you will lose the generation that’s coming up next. Gen Z has the highest brand expectations. If you can please them, you are also going to please Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. Gen Z should become your benchmark.

Article based on research by: Ipsos MORI, BBC.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

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Top Ten Tips from OOKII Company for a Successful News Release

Posted on October 12, 2017 by adriangstewart
  1. Start with the End in Mind

A news release needs to be newsworthy. Nobody is interested in “Dog bites man!”  but  “Man bites dog!” is a different story. How is your story relevant to the target audience? Relative to all the other news that your target audience will see, how big is your story? News events can conspire against you so be aware of what else is happening that might unintentionally drown your story.

  1. The Headline

The headline shouldn’t be some cheesy click bait ending in  ”..you won’t believe what happens next!”  Your headline needs to be a balance. Informative enough to convey the topic yet ambiguous enough to draw the reader in to discover more by reading the release. If this is a trade press release, then the journalist may simply copy paste the headline you created. However, a larger publication will want to write their headline because they obviously don’t want the same headline as their competition.

Even the WSJ can make the odd headline faux pas!

  1. Expert Opinion

Find someone who is recognized as a subject matter expert to supply a comment or observation; this will add credibility your story. The more independent they are, the more their opinion will carry weight. Paying for this type of comment is a mistake – I don’t have to tell you why.

What do journalists look for in a press release?

  • Supporting facts… 65%
  • Interesting story angles… 62%
  • Trending industry topic… 53%
  • Powerful quotes… 23%
  • Attention-grabbing headline… 30%
  • Engaging multimedia… 17%

Source: Business Wire

  1. Images and Video

Visuals cause a faster and stronger reaction than words. They help readers engage with the content, and such emotional reactions have a favorable influence on information retention. This is because the visual memory is encoded in the medial temporal lobe of the brain, the same place where emotions are processed.

  1. Search Engine Optimization

The good news is that search engine algorithms have become quite sophisticated. What this means is that you simply have to write in a natural way and no longer concern yourself with metrics such as keyword density. Authentic curated content is how we refer to this in the trade.

  1. Now What?

Having gained the reader’s attention via your authentic content, which may be informative or entertaining, perhaps a blend of the two, now what? What do we want readers to do? Is there a specific call to action? Choose a single call to action for each press release, otherwise, you will confuse readers and make evaluating the outcomes challenging. If your release is about the launch of your new Dongle your call to action might be

  • Click here to preorder your Dongle
  • Sign up for Dongle updates
  • Click here to read Dongle reviews

Decide on one, and only one, call to action.

  1. Close Encounters

Your press release will be going to numerous journalists/bloggers/influencers and media specialists.

Some will simply copy paste what you sent into their newsfeed, either because they are swamped, or don’t care or most likely the process is automated. Yes – your press release will show up in an online search under – Fox12 News in Milwaukee!

However, the more discerning journalists and opinion leaders may well want to ask questions or gain direct access to the people who are quoted in your release. You need to make this as easy as possible. Names, phone numbers, email, social media – all the usual suspects. Make sure the people named as media contacts are thoroughly briefed, going to available and think about time zone differences and language skills as appropriate.

  1. Social Media Channels

Make certain that whoever manages your social media channels (Blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) has access to the release including any images ahead of time this will be greatly appreciated. Plus when all the channels fire simultaneously there is a synergy to your efforts. Let’s not forget that employees who are active on social media integral part of issuing your press release.

  1. Pitch to the Right People

The top two methods through which journalists prefer to receive breaking news have remained relatively unchanged.

  • The majority prefer an email alert with a link to a full press release (74%)
  • Less popular is a newswire press release (21%).

(Note: 75% of newswire journalists (Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France prefer a newswire press release.)

  1. Measure to Manage

It’s an old management adage that managers tend to manage what they can measure. To manage your media efforts effectively you will need to measure the performance of your press release. The good news is that there are tools to help you do this and if you don’t have them then your friendly PR agency will have access to them and can use them on your behalf. By accumulating this data over time and comparing the performance of different releases you will gain some interesting insights. Insights that are unique to your organization are of course the most valuable.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

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What PR challenge do Nike, IKEA, Porsche, Fjällräven, Adidas and Hoegaarden have in Common?

Posted on September 20, 2017 by adriangstewart

Commonly mispronounced brand names.

They all have brand names which are occasionally mispronounced and generally they don’t like it when that happens. Let’s see how knowledgeable you are….

NIKE: Should Nike rhyme with “like”? Apparently not! In 20114 Nike chairman Philip Knight confirmed the correct pronunciation was in fact “Ni-key” , after the Greek goddess of victory.

IKEA: Is Swedish so if you want to pronounce it correctly then, it should be “ee-kay-uh” not “eye-kee-ah”. The company’s name is an acronym that consists of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad (name of founder), Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up), and Agunnaryd (his hometown in Småland, southern Sweden)

ADIDAS: Named after its founder Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler who started making shoes in 1924 it’s “A-di-das” not “a-DEE-das”.

FJÄLLRÄVEN: Swedish for Arctic fox, the company makes outdoor clothing and equipment. And if you want to say their name correctly its “F-yarl-Rar-van”.

PORSCHE: Luxury car brand Porsche also takes its name from founder Ferdinand Porsche. His family name has two syllables: ‘Por-shuh’

HOEGAARDEN: Records of brewing in the village Hoegaarden, Belgium date back to 1445, when the local monks were enthusiastic brewers. If you feel like a Hoegaarden make sure you order a “Who-gar-den”.

If you know of other mispronounced brands we would be interested to hear about them….

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

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Presentation to Make? Here Are 12 Questions That Will Help You Connect With Your Audience.

Posted on August 14, 2017 by adriangstewart

As Dale Carnegie once said,  “There is no sweeter sound to any person’s ear than the sound of their own name…”

Successful presentations connect with the audience and gain their attention.  Here are 12 questions to help facilitate that process.

Dale Carnegie

  • What do they have in common? Is the audience made up of friends, colleagues, suppliers, customers or are they all strangers to each other? Think about what defines them – are they millennials, did they all go to college, and do they have shared problems or ambitions? More of which later.
  • Why have they come to listen to you today? What are they hoping to take away from your talk/presentation? What’s in it for them?
  • Why were you invited to talk? There must be something about you, and your expertise that the organizers feel will be of interest to the audience? What is that quality? Resist the temptation to try and be someone you are not, audiences will already have expectations about who you are.
  • What problems do members of your audience have in common? Understanding a common problem and offering a solution is one of the most powerful ways to connect with any audience. They will be expecting to hear a new perspective on a shared problem. They will want to hear something new, something that gives them an advantage.
  • Opportunities go hand in hand with problem-solving. What opportunities do the members of your audience have in common? Stimulate their imagination, outline what needs to be done, and finally give them the confidence to take action after the presentation.
  • How does your audience naturally communicate? What cultural differences might exist within the audience? Do they have industry specific terminology and jargon that they use? The reason for asking yourself these questions is so that you can effectively communicate with your audience.
  • Talk in a way that is familiar to your audience. While remaining authentic – trying out a Scottish accent when you give your presentation in Edinburgh could be a bad idea, unless it’s humorous.
  • Is there a role for humor in your presentation? There are some events, cultures, and topics where humor would be inappropriate. Very few people can tell a funny story to a large audience and get a reaction. Self-deprecating humor can endear you to an audience, however, use it sparingly or it will raise doubts about your credibility.
  • How long do you need to talk for to effectively communicate your key messages? You may have been given a fixed time slot and have little or no flexibility. There are no absolute answers to this question – it’s a matter of how much time do you need. Too long and the audience will lose their focus, and their attention will drift. Too short and they will leave not understanding the points that you were trying to communicate.
  • Will you need visual aids? If you are thinking about typing bullet points onto PowerPoint slides – don’t waste your time. Put that same energy into a few graphic style visuals which support the points you are making. In this age of CGI, AR and VR peoples audio visual expectations are sky high.
  • How should you speak? Become thoroughly familiar with any sound equipment ahead of your talk and if there is any possibility of a rehearsal then take it. Make sure you convey the enthusiasm and passion that you genuinely feel for your chosen topic.
  • Should you make eye contact? Definitely. Look directly at your audience and shift your focus around the audience as you talk. Your goal is to make everyone feel like you are talking directly to them. Establishing this personal connection is essential for you and your audience.
  • Should I write a script? If your presentation will be simultaneously translated into other languages, then a script is appreciated, especially if there is technical content. In any case, always create a structure and do list out your bullet points.

This list of questions is by no means definitive, and you can fine tune it over time to suit your style and the occasion.

Bottom line, do your preparation and gain a thorough understanding of your audience. Who are they? What do they have in common? What do they want from your talk?

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

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Being a Great Entrepreneur Doesn’t Mean You Will Be a Great CEO.

Posted on July 1, 2017 by adriangstewart

It is a truism of the movie industry that every model wants to act, actors inevitably want to direct, and directors aspire to be producers. The restlessness that propels the players in Hollywood to abandon what they do well in favor of doing something different seems at times also to affect entrepreneurs who imagine they will automatically make great CEOs.

The cold hard truth is that many entrepreneurs simply do not have the skills nor the mindset to become CEO of the organization they created.

Unfortunately, it is this one error of judgement that brings about the demise of more businesses than any other. And the demise doesn’t always happen quickly, it can drag on over years as the organization burns through millions of investment dollars.

What defines an entrepreneur? An entrepreneur is the person who bootstraps the business. This is the person who puts it all on the line to make their vision a reality. A good number of entrepreneurs have the charisma and passion to attract external investment. They are the rainmakers who sign up the first customers and give great interviews to the journalists, who in turn profile them and their achievements in the myriad business and trade publications. They are the rockstars of the startup community.

What entrepreneurs don’t understand is their new role and responsibilities as the CEO. The CEO defines and lives the corporate culture. A good CEO builds a team around themselves of successful players, people who are outstanding in their own field.

In companies where the entrepreneur/founder has failed to successfully transition to the role of CEO you might expect that the board of directors would see this and force the necessary changes. This however is not always the case. Where the CEO was also the company founder and/or majority stockholder and owner, the Board of Directors act largely an advisory role and even when they are also investors in the organization they can still find themselves in a position where they are unable to bring about the change that is needed.

Travis Kalanick

What exactly does a Chief Executive do that eludes many entrepreneurs? Here are six key areas and this is by no means an exhaustive list.

  • Create, articulate and implement the organization’s vision, mission and values.
  • Lead the management team particularly when the going gets tough. Only being visible to share good news is not even half the job.
  • Using the skills and experience of the board to maximum advantage.
  • Defining with the senior management team the critical success factors. What do you absolutely have to get right in order for the organization to succeed?
  • Maintaining an awareness of the competitive landscape, spotting opportunities for expansion, anticipating new industry developments that might disrupt the existing business model under which you are operating.
  • Taking a leadership role in CSR activities where you are visible to employees together with their family and friends. Making employees proud of the company they work for and appreciated in the community is incredibly powerful.

This list hopefully illustrates the point but it isn’t the full story. Perhaps a better way to express that is to say, it’s about being the CEO not just doing the tasks of a CEO.

There are of course some exceptions who prove the rule. Entrepreneurs who make the successful transition to CEO quite often built up their skills and in-depth experience in the corporate world before ever becoming an entrepreneur and creating their own business.

What to do?

If you are an entrepreneur aspiring to becoming CEO find yourself a professional coach who can help you make the transition to the role of CEO or help you transition to a new role and bring in a proven CEO to lead the organization you created.  If you are looking to become part of a startup, lookout for the warning signs, it can be a long hard road working with a CEO who is out of his/her depth.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

Adrian G Stewart

Adrian G Stewart

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The Main Reason Uber Needs to Restore Confidence in it’s Brand.

Posted on June 3, 2017 by adriangstewart

2017 has been a major PR challenge for Uber the world’s most valuable start up. As a quick reminder here are the main events that have adversely affected Uber’s reputation.

  • Uber CEO Travis Kalanick drew criticism for joining then President Trump’s economic advisory board.
  • #deleteUBER started trending on Twitter after the company appeared to disrupt a taxi strike in protest of President Trump’s attempted travel ban
  • Uber also faced widespread criticism for having a culture that tolerated sexual harassment.
  • Most recently Uber was sued for allegedly stealing trade secrets from Google’s self-driving vehicle arm Waymo.

Uber's reputation takes a hit

 

While only 4% of customers moved away from Uber as a result of these events many more customers started to harbor doubts about the organizations integrity and trustworthiness. As Uber prepares to introduce autonomous vehicles these qualities become critical for success. If Uber isn’t trusted as a brand, how likely are customers to entrust their safety to an Uber autonomous vehicle? According to consulting firm cg42, all those negative headlines did leave a mark on Uber’s reputation. As the chart above shows, the percentage of Uber customers with a negative perception climbed from 9 to 27 percent in response to the news events. “You have 81 percent of their users aware of the news. That means people are paying attention, and that means trust is eroding,” said Stephen Beck, founder and managing partner at cg42.

While the short term impact has been negligible there is some serious reputational damage that will need to be repaired over the coming months.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

Adrian G Stewart

Adrian G Stewart

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Crowdfunding – A Brief Look at 6 Platforms

Posted on April 16, 2017 by adriangstewart

Crowdfunding has transformed the process of raising money.

1 Kickstarter

Kickstarter is an American public-benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company’s stated mission is to “help bring creative projects to life”. In the world of crowdfunding, Kickstarter the tried and tested solution The idea is that those seeking funding give “investors” perks, such as products, T-shirts, or unique experiences, based on their level of investment.

Best Suited To: Kickstarter projects tend to be creative in nature, with projects raising money for items such as a bicycle made from bamboo. Projects for other categories such as food and technology do appear, but majority of projects are related to music, art, crafts, and design.

Don’t Forget: Kickstarter only funds projects, meaning you must have a deliverable, like a tool or a gadget, nothing as nebulous as “hiking in Peru.” And no charitable fund raising.

Small Print: Kickstarter adopts the winner takes all approach. If you don’t raise 100 percent of the goal you set, you get none of it. Kickstarter takes 5 percent of the amount raised, and the payment processor takes another 3 to 5 percent.

Kickstarter has reportedly received more than $1.9 billion in pledges from 9.4 million backers to fund 257,000 creative projects, such as films, music, stage shows, comics, journalism, video games, technology and food-related projects.

2 GoFundMe

GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform that allows people in some but not all countries to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. The company is based in San Diego, California.

That said there is a business component to GoFundMe.

Best Suited To: GoFundMe is ideal for local businesses trying to rally a community to help them launch or grow.

Don’t Forget: GoFundMe allows users to create their own website to their fundraising cause, the amount they hope to raise, and upload photos or video. Users share their project with friends, family and anyone else via through integrated social media and email.

Small Print: GoFundMe generates revenue by automatically deducting a 5% fee from each donation users receive. If the user receives no donations, then no charge is made. In addition to the 5% that GoFundMe deducts from each transaction, WePay collects 2.9% and $0.30 from each GoFundMe transaction.

GoFundMe is unique to crowdfunding in that they are not an incentive-based crowdfunding website. Although they do allow projects that are meant to fund other projects for musicians, inventors, and similar causes. The business model is set up to allow for donations to personal causes and life events such as medical bills.

Leanne Brown - raised funds in 2014 to write a cookbook.

Leanne Brown – raised funds in 2014 to write a cookbook.

3 EquityNet

EquityNet is a U.S.-based business crowdfunding platform for startups and mature businesses to raise equity capital from accredited investors. Founded in 2005, the company is headquartered in New York.While Kickstarter and GoFundMe appeal mainly to consumers looking to finance small businesses, EquityNet is focused on investors.

Best Suited For: EquityNet is focused on commercial enterprises. Its target sectors include health care, industrial & manufacturing, biotechnology, and computer hardware and software, among others.

Don’t Forget: EquityNet is not a registered broker-dealer and thus is not involved in the transfer of funds.

Small Print: Unlike other crowdfunding sites, EquityNet doesn’t charge a fee for raising funds. It operates as a subscription service. Some services are free, while others are bundled into the $109-per-month plan.

EquityNet provides access to thousands of investors and has helped entrepreneurs across North America raise more than $240 million in equity, debt, and royalty-based capital

4 Indiegogo

Indiegogo, is an international crowdfunding website headquartered in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows people to solicit funds for an idea, charity, or start-up business. The site runs on a rewards-based system, meaning donors, investors, or customers who are willing help to fund a project or product can donate and receive a gift, rather than an equity stake in the company.

Best Suited To: Indiegogo is a pretty diverse crowdfunding site, with no specific sector focus.

Don’t Forget: Indiegogo does not use the “all or nothing” requirement, but it does charge a higher fee if you don’t reach your fund raising goal.

Small Print: Indiegogo offers both fixed and flexible funding. The fee for either is 4 percent, but if you don’t hit your funding goal with a flexible funding campaign, the fee is 9 percent. There’s no fee for a fixed funding campaign if you don’t hit your funding goal.This charge is in addition to credit card and PayPal charges that range from 3.5% to 9%.

Following changes in Security and Exchange Commission rules earlier in 2016, Indiegogo has partnered with MicroVentures to offer equity-based campaigns beginning in November 2016, allowing unaccredited investors to participate with equity stakes

Leanne Brown - wrote her crowd funded cook book

Leanne Brown – wrote and published her crowd funded cook book

5 RocketHub

RocketHub is an online crowdfunding platform. Very popular with musicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, game developers and fashion designers. RocketHub is considered one of America’s largest crowdfunding platforms.

Best Suited To: RocketHub is ideal for projects related to; art, business, science, and social issues.

Small Print: If the selected funding target is not reached by the deadline, the project leader is still able to keep the collected funds. RocketHub charges 4% of funds collected, plus 4% payment processing fees, if the project is fully funded, and 8% plus 4% payment processing fees if the project does not reach its goal.

RocketHub engaged in an innovative partnership with marketing agency Wieden+Kennedy and Chrysler’s Dodge Dart in 2013 allowing users to crowdfund the purchase of a car by asking friend sand family to buy certain parts, such as wheels.

6 Crowdfunder

Crowdfunder is a Los Angeles-based equity crowdfunding platform that connects entrepreneurs to investors onlineCrowdfunder aims to provide investors with the chance to get in on investment opportunities that have typically been exclusive to Silicon Valley venture capitalists or industry insiders. In addition to connecting entrepreneurs with investors, the site also offers a lot of resources to help investors raise money.

Best Suited To: Because Crowdfunder attracts accredited investors, the fundraising goals tend to be higher. Organizations in industries like high-technology and health care can raise hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. It’s also a cool place to find innovative ideas like a notary service that can be conducted via online video.

Small Print: You pay no fee to get your funding, but you do have to pay a monthly subscription service fee.

Since 2011, Crowdfunder has funded 58 deals, averaging $1.8 million apiece. The majority of those are tech startups, but others are social enterprises and small businesses. To date, $100 million in investment deal flow has come through Crowdfunder.

First published by Adrian G Stewart at OOKII.Company

Adrian G Stewart

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