Software Will Eat the World

Photo: Nigel Parry (from Wired)

Every few weeks I read an article that inspires me and it becomes the thing I talk about to everyone that will listen. On a recent plane ride I got caught up on my reading and found that latest inspirational article. It's the cover story of the most recent Wired. Wired is doing a series of regular profiles of icons that have changed the world. The first one is an interview with Marc Andreesen, the man who co-invented the first web browser, pioneered cloud technology, and invested in companies like Facebook, Groupon, Twitter, and Zynga.

Read this article if you want to get a glimpse into where technology is headed. Below are some of my favorite quotes, but I highly recommend you read the entire article here: http://bit.ly/LlqYL6.

Marc Andreessen: Technology is like water; it wants to find its level. So if you hook up your computer to a billion other computers, it just makes sense that a tremendous share of the resources you want to use—not only text or media but processing power too—will be located remotely. People tend to think of the web as a way to get information or perhaps as a place to carry out ecommerce. But really, the web is about accessing applications. Think of each website as an application, and every single click, every single interaction with that site, is an opportunity to be on the very latest version of that application. Once you start thinking in terms of networks, it just doesn’t make much sense to prefer local apps, with downloadable, installable code that needs to be constantly updated.

[Wired Editor-in-Chief] Anderson: Assuming you have enough bandwidth.

Andreessen: That’s the very big if in this equation. If you have infinite network bandwidth, if you have an infinitely fast network, then this is what the technology wants. But we’re not yet in a world of infinite speed, so that’s why we have mobile apps and PC and Mac software on laptops and phones. That’s why there are still Xbox games on discs. That’s why everything isn’t in the cloud. But eventually the technology wants it all to be up there.
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Andreessen: The application model of the future is the web application model. The apps will live on the web. Mobile apps on platforms like iOS and Android are a temporary step along the way toward the full mobile web. Now, that temporary step may last for a very long time. Because the networks are still limited. But if you grant me the very big assumption that at some point we will have ubiquitous, high-speed wireless connectivity, then in time everything will end up back in the web model. Because the technology wants it to work that way.
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Anderson: [Edited]  For every million that Craigslist made, it took a billion out of the newspaper industry. If you transform these big, inefficient industries in such a way that the value all accrues to a smaller software company, what’s the broad economic impact?

Andreessen: My bet is that the positive effects will far outweigh the negatives. Think about Borders, the bookstore chain. Amazon drove Borders out of business, and the vast majority of Borders employees are not qualified to work at Amazon. That’s an actual, full-on problem. But should Amazon have been prevented from doing that? In my view, no. Because it’s so much better to live in a world where that happened, it’s so much better to live in a world where Amazon is ascendant. I told you that my childhood bookstore was something you had to drive an hour to get to. But it was a Waldenbooks, and it was, like, 800 square feet, and it sold almost nothing that you would actually want to read. It’s such a better world where we have Amazon, where everything is universally available. They’re a force for human progress and culture and economics in a way that Borders never was.

Again, read the whole article here, and, if you get as inspired as I was, definitely check out this video of a fireside chat Marc did with Wired's Chris Anderson at a recent Wired Business Conference.

Visual Storytelling

(image credit: artist Koen Demuynck)

We love stories. When we were kids we insisted that our parents read us one more story every night before we went to bed. Or better yet, make one up! Look at the television shows we watch now. Shows like Game of Thrones and Mad Men are essentially mini movies that we get to watch every week. The quality. The stories. What about reality shows? American Idol, Deadliest Catch, Restaurant Impossible, The Bachelor. These are weekly stories that have villains, plots, resolutions. We're so hungry for these fantastic stories and we are lucky that they just keep coming.

And we're starting to watch these stories in new ways. Look at the KONY video.  Nearly 90 Million people have watched a 30 minute movie on YouTube. I repeat, a 30 minute movie! Not an 80 second video about a cat or talking babies, an important documentary.

Meanwhile our phones are quickly becoming both a primary tool for viewing movies, television, and Internet-based videos as well as a significant source of creation. That iOS or Android piece of technology you carry around in your pocket has the ability to take photos with the same high resolution quality that were previously only attributed to devices made by the likes of Nikon or Canon.  Remember when you carried a phone, a camera, and a video camera to your kid's birthday party? Like most other parents, I only carry one now, my iPhone.

As we take these lusciously vivid new photos at a mammoth pace, inventions like Pinterest and Instagram are helping us share them with the world.  Each photo tells a story of where we are, where we've been, or where we hope to go.  And each time a friend comments on or re-pins our photos, the story takes on new meaning for that person.  Then there is the complete personification of visual storytelling, the new Facebook timeline.  Photos are now so rich and large and the timeline enables us to tell the chronological story of our brand or our lives.

Many brands are taking advantage of the new Facebook timeline, but one brand stands out head and shoulders above the rest.  That brand is Red Bull.  The company whose energy drink sold over four and half billion cans last year and boasts 60% market share over a thousand competitors doesn't do a ton of traditional advertising.  Sure, you've seen the ads about Red Bull giving you wings, but for the most part, we don't see a ton of commercials or billboards. What we do see is that colorful logo plastered on every crazy extreme athlete with a death wish.   Red Bull epitomizes a brand entrenched in visual storytelling.

When Facebook timeline went live, Red Bull jumped in head first.  From the lead graphic to the individual photos on their profile, every image tells a compelling story.  Some subtle, some overt.

To get you to discover all the fascinating images and the history of Red Bull, they even put together a scavenger hunt that asked you to navigate through all the rich content on their Facebook page.

  And Red Bull does so much more than just great photos.  They are also highly focused on video and film.  Each of their events and all of their sponsored athletes are documented by some of the best action filmmakers on the planet.  Check out their YouTube channel and you'll find nearly 2,000 videos with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a quarter of a billion views.

And finally, look at Red Bull's website.

The site is dedicated to sports, culture, events, music, film, games, and if you look really hard, you might find a link to their product.

Red Bull breaks the rules.  It is lifestyle, story, visuals, and culture first... product last.  And it works.

Red Bull has taken a serious stance on visual storytelling.  And yes, it can work for everyone.  We're visual people.  We love great images and great stories, and we're more apt to buy from those who can show us what they are about.  Visual Storytelling is a trend and it will only get bigger and better as technology makes it easier and easier to tell our stories.

Social Media Becomes Social Business

As social media matures, so too do its related expectations. We're in the midst right now of a transition from social media to social business. Sure, we've all been searching for the ROI associated with our Facebook and Twitter endeavors for a few years now, but what we're really starting to see is a fundamental shift in the way social media fits within a company.

Back in my music business days, the Internet guys (or should I say - guy) were the last ones consulted on what to do with a new artist. Today they lead the conversation. As do the respective leaders in film, television, and publishing.  Businesses outside of entertainment are quickly gaining traction in that area too as digital becomes core to the launch of any new product from all aspects including market research and product development. 

Digital and social media find themselves at the center of a business' strategy and not the add-on. Thus the transition from social media to social business. These days, when we get called in to talk about social media with a brand, for the most part they already have a significant presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, and even Pinterest. The conversations have become far less about how can we help you get to a million fans on Facebook and more about how can we turn those virtual fans into even bigger fans of the brand. And let's cut to the chase - we want those fans to buy more and tell others to buy more.

A social business strategy is more complex than a social media strategy. It involves multiple divisions of a company and it involves buy-in from the senior level. All you have to do is look at what Walmart and American Express are doing to understand that social is quickly becoming a core part of some of the biggest companies in the world.

A social business strategy is essentially a collection of strategies that work together to ultimately drive loyalty and sales.  This includes:

• Analytical Strategy - Analysis of action to date - a deep understanding of what is working and what hasn't.  You've most likely spent at least a year trying things in the social space, what are the results?  What are the needs identified such as personnel, better reporting, data analysis, training, etc.?
• Establish a Value Proposition - Have you identified what your customer wants in exchange for being part of your social presence? What's in it for them?
• Growth Strategy - You probably have a semi-arbitrary goal for the amount of fans you want following you on your various social properties. Do you have a legitimate reason for this number or does 1 million or 2 million Facebook fans just sound like a good number to report to the bosses? Have you studied the direct competition? Have you studied the quality of fan that you currently have and identified where they came from and how often they participate? We've all heard the quality vs. quantity argument, but have we really spent time determining if every new fan is as valuable as the ones that came before?  Have you used every asset you have at your fingertips such as email, in-store signage, better presence on your website, or integration with your advertising efforts? Before you start buying those fans with Facebook ads, have you tried to convert your actual customers?
• Activation Strategy - What do you do with people when they become a fan?  This is also known as community management. You've got them there, now what do you do with them? Do you actually engage with them or do you just recite quotes from famous people and send out 25% discounts on things they don't necessarily want?  Do you have the proper resources to manage your community? 
• Content Strategy - One of the most important strategies in showcasing your company and your products. We're a visual society and the smartphone revolution is making it easier to take photos and capture video at a quality previously owned by Nikon and Canon.  You need a definitive approach to not only capturing content but how you disseminate it.  Is your content compelling? Is it real? Is it sharable?  
• Mobile Strategy - Everything we do on our desktops and laptops is headed into the palms of our hands. Every point made above should have mobile factored in as well. View this presentation to really get the point.

I could go on, but any more and you'll start getting dizzy and ask yourself how on earth you could ever get all of that done. The point is that everything I stated above is meant to drive more business your way. It asks you to take a good look at what you are doing and whether you have the right process in place to make this work. Again, this is for your business, not for bragging rights.