International flight transfers – when you are there but not really there

Posted on July 21, 2011 by markkolier

It’s 4AM on Thursday on the U.S. East coast. But it’s 5PM Thursday in Japan – a place I have been to several times but not in a couple of years. I sit in the Delta SkyLounge at Narita International Airport and look at tarmac on a sunny afternoon. A typhoon has finally lifted and there’s sushi and Asahi beer nearby.

I’m in Japan all right but not really. I can shop in the duty free shops, watch Japanese television (of course I speak virtually no Japanese), and eat Japanese food. However there are no kimonos, no sight of the remarkably organized flow I see everywhere in the streets of Tokyo. It is fastidiously clean here in the lounge which is so very Japanese.

I am on a layover from New York to Hong Kong and as the saying goes am just passing through. It was nearly a thirteen hour flight to get this far and I have a four and a half hour flight to go after my brief two and a half hour layover. Two movies, three meals and a little sleep have me feeling pretty good at this point.

I am scheduled to arrive in Hong Kong at 10:30 PM Thursday night local time which is 10:30AM East Coast time. It’s doubtful I will be able to go to sleep when I arrive. So I probably won’t. I have a series of business meetings mostly all next week so for the next few days I will get to enjoy Hong Kong and Macau before I set off (via MTR subway into China) for Shenzhen for the week. The World University games are slated to be held in Shenzhen next month so I expect the city (of 14 million) to be buzzing in preparation.

However for now I am in a country I truly enjoy but can only watch the planes arrive and depart while I make believe that somehow I had a little taste of Japan. I am here but not really here. It doesn’t count when you just pass through does it?

Posted in Customer Experiences, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A great example of good email marketing communication that was really bad

Posted on July 20, 2011 by markkolier

Our team does advise companies on best practices when it comes to creating and sending email messages. We truly believe that respecting recipient’s wants, needs and desires is critical in maintaining email as a viable channel to promote offers, engagements and events.

I doubt I will get much of an argument that many companies do a poor job of communicating via email (something that I am working on with the several companies in China to which I am heading off to see tomorrow) as well as demonstrate best practices for email protocols.

So when a good one crosses my inbox it becomes particularly noticeable. I recently signed up for the Export Yellow Pages. This site provides our company with a listing via a partnership with the U.S. Department of Commerce. I really have no idea if we will generate any interesting leads or engagements via our listing but it was relatively easy to do but offered nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

Today I received an email from a firm called ExpertsBusiness Direct which I mistook for having something to do with Export Yellow Pages (maybe I need to wear glasses when reading my screen). Anyway it got me to read the text which I thought was very good:

Dear Mark,

Once in a while, business-to-business emails will be sent by ExpertBusiness Direct to introduce you to special offers, industry events, or invite you to participate in customer surveys where you have the opportunity to make your opinion count. This is an exclusive brand serving the Business-to-Business community.

No one wants or has time to be inundated with unwanted emails, so we have committed to making sure the emails we send are relevant and we hope, valuable to you. Typically, you will receive less than 3 emails per month – never consumer offers and always pertinent to you, your company and your business. ExpertBusiness Direct does not provide possession of your email address to sponsors or advertisers without your consent.

Before we begin sending you emails, I want to be certain that our emails are welcome. If you do not want to receive these types of emails in the future, click here:

If you choose not to remove your name at this time, you will always be provided an opportunity to unsubscribe from ExpertBusiness Direct on each and every offer we send – removing your name from our email database is always an instant click-away.

If you would like to receive business and career related offers from us, you do not have to do anything.

Thank you for your time,

Maria Bartell
Program Coordinator, Email Marketing

Many things are right about the text of the mail. Tone being a big one as well as respecting my wishes at all times. But there was a big problem. Once I realized it was not from the Export Yellow Pages I looked again and realized I have no relationship with this company. In reality this email was a come-on so that I could be sent email from a company that wishes to business with me. And yes I immediately unsubscribed. Shame on them. Too bad what was just the right message was so dead wrong.

Posted in Best business practices, Communication, Marketing stuff, Personal Privacy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

If the U.S women had to lose the World Cup I’m glad it was to Japan

Posted on July 17, 2011 by markkolier


Don’t think for a second that I was not distressed when the Japanese tied the game at 1-1. And even more so when the resilient Japanese women tied the U.S. again at 2-2 near the end of the extra time period. I was so impressed at how many Americans were totally into the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament. People were talking about soccer (football in every other corner of the world) her in the U.S. in a way that was unprecedented.

But why did it have to be Japan? As hard as things have been in the United States for the past few years with an unemployment rate of 9+% (the real rate is probably closer to 12% or more), the tragedy in the land of the rising sun was a human tragedy of epic proportions. Add to the fact that the Japanese economy has been in steep decline for many years and it becomes painfully apparent that the Japanese have had little to cheer about for a very long time.

I am convinced the emotional boost a World Cup soccer championship gave the Japanese far exceeded anything the United States could have experienced. The residual effects of the March tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster cannot be underplayed. Japan will be dealing with the fallout (ok bad analogy) for many years to come.

As I watched the game I was totally focused on the American women, their talent, spirit and commitment that made them – to me – the best team in the world. Only it didn’t work out that way. As the game wore on there were signs that for whatever reason this might be Japan’s day. I did not think about that as I was rooting for the home team to bring home the championship. But when the Americans missed their first penalty shot in the shootout I began to really contemplate the idea that the Japanese might win and what that might meant to Japan.

After the second U.S shot went over the goal I came to grips with the idea that the U.S. would lose and Japan was going to win. For some reason as disappointing as that was I began to look at it from the perspective of a broken nation having something wonderful to cheer about when it needed it the most.
When it was all over we all watched the Japanese women celebrate while their American counterparts looked shocked, dejected and disappointed. However the American women showed their usual class led by its star Abby Wambach who walked right into the Japanese celebration to congratulate the winners as did her teammates.

In no way am I happy that the U.S. lost the World Cup final to Japan but if we had to lose I am content that the nation that needed a victory the most at this time earned a well fought and well played moment that their country sorely needed. Congratulations to Japan. And to the U.S. women – thanks for an exciting ride. We’ll be back. And I will be watching.

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Google+ offers more pluses than minuses

Posted on July 15, 2011 by markkolier

Although I was not a charter invitee to the Google+ trial universe I have been playing around with it now for about a week. Google+ is throwing the gauntlet down at Facebook offering its version of a social network. It’s easy to get started and to use. My question is will it make an impact on people in choosing Google+ over Facebook or considering switching to Google+ from Facebook?

The current field trial of Google+ allows Google to hear the noise and then tweak what they feel needs tweaking. The crash and burn of Google Buzz has learned Google a few things as the saying goes. Katie Boehret of the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday did a nice job of laying out her viewpoint on Google+ and I agree with many of her observations here – http://on.wsj.com/qnCmdR and an accompanying video here http://on.wsj.com/qTnaFB.

One of the most attractive features of Google+ is the ‘Circles’ aspect. I like the way you can organize friends, colleagues, family, enemies, or whatever into their own circles. Nobody can see what circle or circles you’ve put them in but it offers you the categorization of relationships that continues to be lacking on Facebook.

I am sure there have been many times when some obscure professional or work acquaintance ‘friend requested’ you on Facebook. The normal reaction is to shake your head and then click ‘Ignore’. But what if your boss sends a ‘Friend Request’ on Facebook? With Google+ you can share what you want to share with any particular circle. Or not. BIG +.

I haven’t used the Google+ ‘Sparks’ feature as yet, nor have I used the group video chat module called ‘Hangouts’. I can see the value of both and the Hangouts group chat (up to 10 people) could become popular among some users (but probably not me). The Google+ mobile feature offers group texting (it’s called Huddle) and I can see that being useful and another separator from Facebook.

So overall I feel Google+ has done a good job of taking the things I like about Facebook and enhancing them. But unless the people I interact with (my friends and family) on Facebook migrate en masse over to Google+ I personally don’t see myself giving up my Facebook account nor do I anticipate many other people doing that either. And the thought of having to manage two social network profiles will be a non-starter don’t you think?

I will continue to use Google+ for a while at least. If you’d like to be invited to try it, just send me a note and I will invite you to try it as well. But if you do I’d love for you to come back here to my blog and let everyone know what you thought. It’s all about the conversation isn’t it?

Posted in Living in the World Today, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A $1 billion IPO – is Zynga built to last?

Posted on July 13, 2011 by markkolier

The news last week was that Zynga has planned an IPO filing for $1 billion (it hopes to raise $1.5 to $2 billion with an overall company valuation as much as $20 billion). The move http://bit.ly/qq9yzv took nobody by surprise. ”’Tis the season of IPO company over-valuation after all.” Full disclosure – I have never played Farmville, Mafia Wars, Frontierville, or Cityville, or any other of Zynga’s free online games for that matter. I’ve also not had occasion to play AngryBirds (from Rovio) either.

It appears Zynga is counting on growth in the mobile marketing channel to further fuel its meteoric rise to prominence. I think that is a smart thing since I can’t help but feel that the backbone of Zynga’s past growth – Facebook users, will ultimately tire of the popular online game. And when people tire the user number fall will be fast and steep. But there are several interesting reasons that suggest Zynga might be undervalued http://bit.ly/oaFCqu.

A mobile Zynga platform offers more value since when a user is in a waiting room or stuck someplace he or she can jump on to kill some time populating a farm, frontier or whatever it is that people like to do while playing those time-killing games. And that’s what they are, time killing games right? Is there any other possible redeeming factor or benefit to playing a Zynga based game? C’mon people, this is your chance to give me reasons as to what I am missing!

I never was tempted to even sign up for a trial of any of the games although I received a multitude of invitations to join in Mafia Wars and Farmville. I pass quite a bit of my day already staring at a computer terminal and I haven’t the time or desire to play virtual games especially when I don’t have enough time to play the real ones I’d like to play more often.

The interesting part of Zynga’s development in the mobile space will be the uncoupling from Facebook. I champion Zynga’s realization that in order to stand more firmly on its own they will have to develop game delivery platforms outside of Facebook (or Google+ for that matter should it become a true competitor to Facebook).

Mobile payments are poised to become ubiquitous and the sale of virtual items in games is already gaining serious traction. So a future revenue model is there but a $1 billion kick start surely would help get things going.

$1 billion is still a lot of money (to me at least). Do you think Zynga has legs to stand for the long haul?

Posted in Innovation, Marketing stuff, Mobile Communication, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Being in a rut can develop into being in a ditch

Posted on July 11, 2011 by markkolier

I’ve just finished a week off taken as a Staycation. That means my family did not go away anywhere and we did things together (at least a good part of the time) around the town in which we live. I can happily report it was great. In addition to the obvious benefit of having spent time with my wife and children it offered me an opportunity to really think about my day to day activities when it comes to working.

Most people develop routines to help them deal with their everyday lives. Routines can be very helpful in making people efficient and productive. Leaving for the office, getting into the same car on the train each day that opens near the right staircase, even scheduling errands so as to minimize the amount of trips you need to make are some examples of how routines can aid in efficiency.

Our company is having a challenging year. We are far from alone in being in that position. However the week off reminded me that the actions I take are not necessarily always the most productive actions and have become, well, routine. I receive and read far too many irrelevant emails. But I read them anyway. Why do I keep doing it? Maybe because it’s comfortable and when things are tough people tend to look to things that are familiar for comfort. What do you think?

So starting today I am going to be more focused on doing things that are more directly related to meeting the challenges that lay before me and our team. The changes themselves will be far from revelatory but subtle changes in the way I look at and approach things will offer a renewed opportunity to be doing the things that can most directly contribute to our success.

Be careful of your comfortable routine dear readers. It will help you guard against having the rut become a ditch.

Posted in Best business practices, Living in the World Today | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Google+ the jury is still deliberating

Posted on July 5, 2011 by markkolier

I am off this week which is to say that I won’t be doing the normal office thing. It’s not quite like Bill Gates leaving Microsoft for a couple of weeks as he does annually where he reads and ruminates. But for me a refresh is important (you might want to consider this as well). So I guess it’s a kind of staycation.

I will take some time to check out the new Google+ platform which has generated quite a bit of Buzz (pun totally intended) since it launched last week.

Chris Brogan writes a consistently good blog and has already thrown out some interesting thoughts regarding the new platform. I hope to offer my own take next week. You can read Chris’ thoughts here – http://bit.ly/lxtYO0

Have a great week.

Posted in Communication, Social Media, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Where does marketing end and propaganda begin?

Posted on June 30, 2011 by markkolier

In preparing for my next trip to China in a few weeks I’ve been consuming all kinds of China related intelligence and information. Believe me there’s no shortage of things to read and learn. One feed I’ve been receiving is from China – People’s Daily Online – here is a sample feed/post – http://bit.ly/ma3SH5.

The posts (and there are seemingly continual posts) are well written and completely from the perspective of the CPC (Communist Party of China). From the perspective of a non-Chinese American most of the posts appear overly China promotional and slanted toward the CPC point of view. Yes I know – big surprise. The free press we enjoy here in the United States is a founding principle. Yet when the U.S. government (or either of the two major political parties) provides information on a project or initiative we all know there is a point of view – we tend to call it marketing or spin.

So what’s the difference? Well an obvious one is the repression of dissenting thought and commentary. What’s happening to recently released Chinese activist Ai Weiwei http://bit.ly/lB3uFp at the moment is a prime example of that. While the CPC claims that he owes millions of dollars in back taxes, it appears that a condition of his release and subsequent house confinement (as opposed to wherever the government was keeping him before) is for him to remain silent and make no comments. Many people feel that the back tax charge was trumped up and that would seem to meet a propaganda campaign.

Yet U.S. political policy position papers from both parties are far from even handed and are obviously designed to sway opinion and convince people of their point of view. If it were not for the two-party system here in the United States, I contend much of what is written in public policy papers is not spin or marketing but propaganda as well.

Even in today’s New York Times http://nyti.ms/kXjmME and article regarding the 90th anniversary of the forming of the Communist party centered on what it termed propaganda related to repackaging revolutionary classics.

I’ve noted in previous posts that a U.S. style bi-cameral legislature in China is not only a long shot but likely won’t work. Governing 1.3+ billion people is vastly different than governing 309 million. What I am suggesting is that all governments ‘market’ their positions in some form or another. Call it spin, rhetoric or whatever you want but in that way China is no different than any other developed nation.

It’s the populace’s ability to refute government positions that they do not agree with that makes a ‘free’ democratic nation a paragon. It was Winston Churchill who said ‘Democracy is the worst form of government – except for all the others’.

Was that marketing, spin or propaganda? Or was it and is it just simply true?

I wish all here in the U.S. a great holiday weekend – I’m going to take a little break myself.

Posted in Business in China, Living in the World Today, Marketing stuff | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Email marketing has entered the vortex

Posted on June 29, 2011 by markkolier

I know I’ve felt it coming on for quite a while now but a report from DM News on June 27th http://bit.ly/junPy3 offers some pretty sobering metrics on open rates, overall email deliverability as well as unsubscribe rates.

The suggestions on how to rectify the problems are solid if not unspectacular (not that they could be spectacular). But underlying it all is the long and slow decline of email marketing in general. The primary reason given is competition in the inbox which if you are anything like me makes total sense since I receive well over one hundred emails per day (closer to 200+). And I don’t receive all that much spam!

I wonder what email marketing will look like in two years. It won’t have disappeared and I am not suggesting it ever will. Yet it concerns me that there has been little innovation in this channel over the twenty years or so (a guess) email marketing has been employed.

Most marketers are aware that acquiring customers via email marketing has never been more difficult and is in large part futile. Retention and existing customer engagement emails continue to be effective but the overall curve is definitively on the downside.

I’m not going to offer any primer on best practices for sending emails to better engage customers. They exist in many places and there are no shortcut tricks to creating email marketing that works every time (despite what some people will tell you). I do know how I feel about email marketing that works for me personally. I am ok with three or four communications a month, offers for things that I actually might want to buy or learn more about. That’s about it. Are you different?

What really is of interest to me is in predicting the direction subscription marketing messages will go – i.e. emails you have opted in to receive. Where will Facebook be in the mix? Will Google be a player in leveraging search queries into relevant direct messages and offers? How about location based marketing services like Foursquare? It’s no secret that email has replaced traditional postal mail for a substantial amount of business communication. Personal communication (i.e. the art of letter writing) has also migrated toward email to some degree but also to SMS texting, FB messaging and web based messaging like IM and even Skype messaging and calling.

How many email messages do you receive? How many email accounts do you have? Have you set up an email account like a Gmail account (I did this) to use when you sign up for various things so that marketing messages all end up in one place – not your work email?

Posted in Communication, Marketing stuff | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Four ideas on how to drive new business through referrals

Posted on June 27, 2011 by markkolier

With all that social networking is supposedly offering I would have expected referrals to be more popular and effective than what I have experienced. For marketing agencies, marketing consultants and marketing service agencies referrals are the real gold standard.

People that know me have heard me say referrals can only go bad. I say that with my tongue in cheek to a degree but there is an underlying seriousness to my observation. If you ask me to suggest a company or individual to perform some sort of service you are counting on me to give you a good reference. So if it works out you will not be surprised nor will I really receive any credit since that’s why you called me in the first place. However if the referral does not work out I can then only look bad. It’s all the more reason why a genuine and honest referral can be so powerful.

So referrals would be better offered without solicitation. This is a bit of an odd concept I realize in that it is not often in practice. LinkedIn attempts to do this with their ‘write a recommendation’ feature for your contacts (highlighted whenever you make a ‘new’ connection). Yet often I find that while I know the person that I have LinkedIn with, when I first connect with someone new, I am not immediately thinking of or able to make a recommendation or referral.

We all know referrals are extremely powerful. They can help cut through a great deal of red tape when they come from a trusted source. So how can people make professional referrals be part of your resume without being overly cheesy or promotional?

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Only write a referral for someone you have personally worked with more than once.

2) Go through your network and think about writing a referral or recommendation for as many people
in your network as you feel truly merit one. This could represent quite a few people so it might
take some time.

3) Take the time or offer to speak to someone who wants to know more about the person you are
referring or recommending.

4) Don’t ask the person you are referring or recommending to write a corresponding referral for you –
let it happen organically. It should not be a tit for tat thing.

With companies changing CMO’s and marketing service companies the way people change socks, referrals and recommendations have never been more important. Associates that I have informally polled noted that there are increasingly fewer engagements gained through recommendations and referrals. I think it should be the other way around.

How about getting started on writing a few referrals/recommendations today?

Posted in Best business practices | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments