in round led by Vulcan
Jeff Bezos Is The Next Steve Jobs (Mediapost 10.26.11) 0
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With the passing of a visionary like Steve Jobs, people are asking the obvious questions of who will that void. What will happen to Apple? Who will lead the path to the future of technology? Kaila Colbin recently wrote a great article for the Spin on the challenges facing the heir apparent at Apple, but I want to think wider for a moment. I want to answer the question of who will be the next Steve Jobs from an industrial and business perspective. Jeff Bezos; please step up and take your place at the head of the table.
If you think about, Jeff Bezos is doing almost everything right. Amazon has become the poster child for innovation in online retail, and the Kindle has become the other “must-have” device for any self-respecting digiterati. The most recent announcements for the Kindle Fire, though maybe not as much of a barn burner as the iPhone 4S, definitely had an impact and poised Amazon as a continued player in the tablet market, if not only as a loss-leader platform for their retail services.
Apple gets a lot of the credit for consumer innovation, but Amazon is not far behind. Apple focuses on form, function and design whereas Amazon focuses on access; access to what you want, wherever you are. They make buying things easy and they effectively turn a considered purchase into an impulse buy. For all that Apple does right, they are still a considered purchase.
Amazon has risen in the ranks to become one of the most well-respected companies in the world, they dominate online retail, and they quietly own patents like the “one-click” ordering system, as well as whatever is on the inside of their Kindle line of products. They are a force in digital music, second only to iTunes, they are the leader in eBooks, they own self-publishing platforms, and they are inevitably going to push Netflix if they can take advantage of the Netfliix/Qwikster/Netflix mis-steps of the last 6 weeks. All that, and they basically invented affiliate marketing.
Jeff Bezos doesn’t make lots of public presentations; he only speaks when he needs to. He doesn’t make broad-sweeping proclamations from his pulpit-on-high, he just gets things done. He also doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and he doesn’t air any dirty laundry. You don’t hear too many people complaining about working at Amazon. Rather it is a desirable destination for legions of intellectual business people.
Amazon does it right, and Amazon could one-day rival Apple as the leading tech-oriented company. Bezos won’t need to get fired from Amazon and return to bring the company to glory. He’s already there, and no-one is challenging him for the lead reins. If you look at the 5-year trend for Amazon, it keeps going up. Those are the kinds of things investors look for; stability, growth and innovation.
What kept Apple in a position of growth was Steve Jobs, his vision, his passion for the business, and his unrelenting desire to improve the world, think different and challenge the status quo. Jeff Bezos is cut from a similar cloth. He is constantly challenging the way things are done. He is ultra-focused on the consumer. He is obviously very passionate about his business. What is there to stop him from being that person to drive his business and become the person that others look up to?
Not much.
Here’s a toast to Jeff Bezos, as we look to the future and the visionaries that will shape the world for many years to come.
Good luck Jeff!
My first banner for me 0
You may be aware that I applied for a slot at Twitter, to be Agency and Brand Advocate. Well, I let a few people know, and someone actually made me a banner ad to help get their attention. Thanks so much to Justin Loresco of iMedia! #hirejim is my hashtag LOL.
The Similarity Between Netflix & The Occupy Movement (Mediapost 10.19.11) 0
In my very first marketing class at Syracuse I learned that marketing is futile if you don’t have your message ironed out. It’s a simple idea; if you’re going to broadcast something, be sure you can explain it succinctly and clearly. If you can’t, then you risk missing the opportunity, or in the worst possible case completely imploding.
Netflix was the worst possible case; where a company decides to broadcast a message without thinking it through, and they literally imploded as a result. In four short weeks Netflix devolved from darling of the Internet business community to laughing-stock and MBA case study-in-the-making. They attempted to make a change without thinking through the consequences of that change, and then doing a full about-face to rectify the mistakes they made. In the process they angered millions of customers, they lost a bunch as well, and they jeopardized their relationship with all who remain. I personally haven’t dropped Netflix yet, but its only because the competition hasn’t yet seized the opportunity. If Amazon and/or Apple create a streaming service to rival Netflix, then I could be as good as gone. It’s only a matter of time.
What has me most puzzled is this whole Occupy movement. It feels like its supposed to be important (and it probably is in many respects), but it’s lacking a clear message. I know people are protesting something, but if I ask 25 people I will get 25 different answers to what they’re protesting. In marketing terms, that seems to be a mistake. If you have the attention of so many people, shouldn’t you be focus that attention on something that needs to be addressed?
I understand the grand scope; that things are not right. I can understand that and even sympathize. The world needs to get better, people need to be held accountable for their actions, and the “American Dream” needs to be restored to millions of people – I get it. That being said, any marketer would advise “them” (whoever they actually are) to come up with a messaging platform. Come up with something you can point at and say, “This is what we want to have done”. Point at Congress and hold them accountable for something specific. If you don’t, then you risk devolving in a similar manner as Netflix; down to a shell of what you were and capable of being picked apart by your competition (whoever they may be).
Trust me; I am not an innately political person and I am not siding with or against the people involved in the Occupy movement (or even Netflix… yet). I unilaterally think all politics is absurd and that everyone in government should be limited to terms of service, and held accountable for the foolishness of their actions. What I am saying is that you have a window of opportunity in any marketing situation and the Occupy Movement is simply marketing at this stage, until they have a defined objective. That window is small, and it is fleeting. You have to grab the attention of your audience when they’re looking, and drag them to where you want them to be.
There is a simple exercise that I use, and maybe the people at Netflix or in the Occupy movement could use it. I had a client that ingrained in me his “law of 3’s”. His law, which I adopted and have used ever since, is that if you can’t explain something in three sentences or less, then you don’t have the message ironed out. It’s too complicated. My suggestion for Netflix; describe in three sentences what you do and the benefit you offer to your customers – then stick to it. To the Occupy movement, tell the world in three sentences what you hope to accomplish and tell it soon or you will lose your window.