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Cockroaches Will Be Around Long After Agencies
Guy Kawasaki’s keynote at CJU was preceded by an introduction where we were reminded of Ogilvy’s reference to cockroaches in a previous keynote. The headline above was guys thoughts on the introduction. Guy let us all know in advance that he was using a Top 10 format for his Art of Innovation speech so that if he sucked we would know how much longer he would suck. I’m sure Guy has never had a sucky presentation. Here is a summary of his list.
1. Make Meaning (Not Money)
Make the world a better place because of what you do.
2. Make a Mantra
Mission statements suck and don’t mean anything. You can use the Dilbert Mission Statement Generator and come up with one just about as good as any off-site retreat or committee ever will. A simple mantra such as Nike’s “Authentic Athletic Performance” or Wendy’s “Healthy Fast Food” can actually be remembered by your employees and acted upon.
3. Jump to the Next Curve
Most companies start, stay, and die on the same curve. You need to jump the tracks and make a revolutionary change. Don’t just improve something, come at it from a new angle and solve the problem differently. Early refrigeration came from blocks of ice carved from lakes in the winter. While some companies found ways to capitalize and become rich on this, the guy who created the factory that made ice was the one who could keep going. Same for the first refrigerator.
4. Roll the DICE
Deep: The Fanning Reef sandal with a bottle opener in the sole. Twice the functionality!
Intelligent: A Panasonic flashlight that takes three sizes of batteries. You might be out of D cells, but you can grab an AA from a remote.
Complete: Lexus has superb after sales support. Use forums, manuals, VARs…
Elegant: Look at the design of the Mac Book Air. Maybe not the best laptop ever, but it is a great looking device.
Emotive: Generate strong emotions. You either love or hate a Harley Davidson.
5. Don’t Worry, Be Crappy
If you can make something that jumps the curve, it does not have to be perfect. The Mac 128 didn’t have a hard drive or much software. Ship something that jumps curves and has elements of crap.
6. Polarize People
The worst thing that can happen is that people don’t care. Look at the Scion, MacIntosh, and Harley Davidson brands.
7. Let 100 Flowers Bloom
The real world happens - you may find that people you never anticipated buy your product. Figure out why they are using it and give them more. Without desktop publishing, there would not be an Apple Computer.
8. Churn, Baby, Churn
Take your version one and keep re-inventing and innovating. As soon as you ship, look to see what customers are looking for and use that information for the next thing.
9. Niche Thyself
This one should make sense to all of you as the affiliate marketing area is pretty much based on this. Guy loves TiVo, Fandango, the Clear card, Zappos, and more. But it does not have to be for the mass market. If you want an automatic transmission on your bike, you get a Trek Lime. If you need a Kimchee refrigerator, look to LG.
10. Follow the 10/20/30 Rule
When you make the rounds with the pitch for your company, or make a pitch to a customer, “life is a pitch.” After listening to hundreds of bad pitches a year, Guy tells us the rule:
10 slides in your pitch
20 minutes is as long as the pitch should last
30 point font is as small as you should use
And then he added in a bonus:
11. Don’t let the Bozos Grind You Down
There are two kinds of Bozos in the world. There are slovenly losers who are easy to ignore and there are the rich Bozos who dress in black, like Italian products and are dangerous. Why? Because people look at them as assume that rich & famous equals smart. But the reality is that it really means they are lucky. Resist Bozosity.
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