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Tag: start-up

The evolution of viral advertising

Written by Jerome on . Posted in Social Media.

In the age of experience-based marketing, some brands want us to do more than just buy their products. They want us to interact with them, to love them. Dan Wieden, legendary adman, described this desire for active participation when he said: “Brands are verbs. Nike exhorts. IBM solves. Sony dreams.” But there are few verbs more active and inspiring than “love.”

In a recent survey by APCO Worldwide, analysts worked out how that love is expressed. They measured eight ways we interact with brands: understanding, approachability, relevance, admiration, curiosity, identification, empowerment, and pride. It’s hard to imagine a brand conveying all these things at once, though the world’s most beloved brand—Walt Disney—probably comes close for a lot of people.

While the same survey reveals that a third of the top 20 most-loved brands were born after the Internet came along, there are also plenty of brands like Heinz and Campbell’s Soup that started the love fest in the 19th century.

Below is a look back at some of the iconic moments in brand love that paved the way for our current landscape of always-on, high engagement Digital Marketing.

A guide to creating your startup advisory board

Written by Jerome on . Posted in Start-up.

The entrepreneurial journey is full of twists, turns, ups and downs. That’s why you need the support of trusted advisors.  Take these examples:

1. The Accidental Founder

Renee is in early stage mode. She has an “accidental business” – something that she happened upon as a result of her interest in helping people. To her surprise and delight, what started as a hobby, helping people decorate their homes, has garnered a great deal of attention in the neighborhood.

Little by little, friends turned to clients, clients began referring other clients and she started making money doing what she loves.  Now she wants to turn it into a full time gig – she’s even thinking of hiring an assistant. But, she’s not sure where to begin.  She needs advice.

2. The Guy Who Cried ‘Scale’

Barry’s business is in a time of transition (who’s isn’t, right?). He has built it up from little more than an idea two years ago to the high class challenge now of being caught between plenty of work and too much work. He has a lot of questions and concerns and sleepless nights.

His team is great – they are dedicated and trusting and committed to the success of the business, but they are not owners. The challenges he faces are uniquely his and, frankly, the decisions he makes about the business may impact the team in ways they might not choose on their own. He needs advice.

3. The Risk-Taker

Another friend, Alexander, has been with his company for nearly 30 years. He is running a small division of a much larger firm. The group operates with a great deal of autonomy and Alexander has comfort knowing he is backed by a stable organization.

But, things have changed. The big company has moved out of the sector that Alexander’s group covers.

So, last month, Alexander offered to buy the business from his employer. He is at once elated, freaked out, cautious, risk-loving and ready to take the next step. He needs advice.

In all three scenarios, the entrepreneurs were contemplating and/or experiencing seismic shifts in their careers and in their businesses. While the companies in question and the decisions made to impact the firms’ futures rest solely with the entrepreneurs themselves, those decisions could likely be made more clearly with the input of trusted third parties.

This may also be true for you.

How to grow an awesome community to fuel your social startup

Written by Jerome on . Posted in Start-up.

When you’re starting a social company, building a loyal and engaged community is paramount. But that can also be one of the most nuanced and challenging elements of launching your startup.

As employee #6 and community director at Polyvore, I’ve had the opportunity to watch our community grow and build relationships with many of our early users – some of whom have been on our site for more than six years now. Today, our site attracts 20 million unique visitors per month and our awesome community has created more than 100 million collage-like “sets” that are shared across the Web.

But like all social startups, we started with a community of zero. So what does it take to grow a strong, engaged audience? We’ve focused on four core principles that have helped us create, nurture and grow our global community.

1. Community starts from within

The first step is to recognize that there is no company without its community. Community is the DNA of any social-oriented business, and it’s important for your entire company to understand, appreciate and celebrate it.

You can do this by incorporating a community section into new hire orientations. You can also celebrate community successes as a company by sending around community love letters, successes and stories. You can even make your users part of your office decor.

For example, our office walls are decorated with “sets” created by our users and love letters they send us. It’s a good daily reminder of why we do what we do.

Recognizing the importance of your community and celebrating it regularly throughout the company creates a culture that will help foster its growth.

2. Listen with open ears

Embrace your community’s feedback. Read every email, comment and suggestion, and reply to them! Your community interacts with your product on a regular basis, so it’s important to understand what they like — and don’t like — about it.

Go the extra mile and proactively reach out to your users from time to time to solicit their thoughts about your product and your team. Our team has delivered a number of product launches and feature updates based on popular demand from the community. User feedback can and should help shape your product and the company.

Consistently ask for feedback and user stories over social media. By acknowledging community feedback, your users will be empowered to have a voice because they know that they are being heard.

3. Give them the personal touch

Take the time to thank your members for all they do for your company because they are your greatest brand ambassadors. Be on the lookout for members who are making an impact in your community, and reward them for it.

You can celebrate user stories and achievements by sharing them across your site through a blog post or on your homepage. You also can keep in touch with users on birthdays and anniversaries with your product.

Personalized gifts and hand-written notes are an easy way to give thanks. And if budget permits, community appreciation events are a great way to get individual feedback, learn about their experiences, and make your users feel special.

You can also send out a curated newsletter that’s specific to a user’s taste and interests. That personal touch can really delight users. They go the extra mile for you, so you should for them! These relationships are key to building a loyal community.

4. Make their dreams come true

Encourage your community members to follow their dreams and help facilitate that in any way you can. While you’re building your dream company, remember that your community is working to reach their dreams right along with you.

Support that, and they’ll support you. Find out what your users love and see if there’s a way to encourage that in a way that’s beneficial to both parties.

For example, we recently sent users to New York Fashion Week to cover shows like Rebecca Minkoff, Cynthia Rowley, BCBGMAXAZRIA and more. Last year we also flew users to London to visit the NET-A-PORTER headquarters and meet top fashion designers. Whenever possible, help open doors for your users and their successes will be yours, too.

While every company is different, community is at the core of any social business. By recognizing its importance, listening, giving thanks and celebrating successes, you can create and grow a loyal community of your own.

Why entrepreneurs are obsessed with failures

Written by Jerome on . Posted in Enterprise.

Aashish Gupta (or The Fundamentalyst) is an investment banking research associate covering European Tech sector. He loves to experiment with startup ideas and write about technology, life, society and spirituality

The beginning of an end

Let alone starting a business, if you have lived/taken a risk even for a single day in your life, you have gone through this. The repeated cycle of idea to execution to failure is the first and the most frustrating part in any entrepreneurial journey.

 “Great success is built on failure, frustration, even catastrophe” – Sumner Redstone

The above quote reinforces our idea that this stage forms the foundation of something bigger. The list of obstacles adding to the frustration is endless. Failure to hold on to a co-founder, ineffective product, cash burn, operational difficulties, legal hassles, emotional and physical burnout, loneliness, self-pity, almost anything and everything will bring you down.

Any sane person at this point of time will break, and so will you – the best of you. Abraham Lincoln, after failing as a captain, businessman, lawyer, and several times as a politician, wrote in a letter to his friend: “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth.”

There are other stories such as those of Harland David Sanders, the famous KFC “Colonel,” who couldn’t sell his chicken, and was rejected by more than 1000 restaurants. Stephen King, after getting rejected by 30 publishers was so frustrated with his first novel, Carrie, that he threw it in the trash.

While these are known ones, there may be other countless untold stories which never came into limelight.

 “If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.” – Steven Wright, American comedian, actor and writer

Maybe a lot of entrepreneurs follow Steven’s advice and never let out their breakdown episodes because they want to keep their “metal head, ready to take any blow” image intact.

These snippets from lives of some of the most successful people tell us that failure is inevitable, and so is breakdown in some or the other form. If you are in the same phase, do not yet think that startup is not your game.

Smooth seas do not make good sailors

Have you by any chance skipped the above process? Has your life been a ride on a highway so far? Then be aware that you are still at the bottom of the learning curve. Know that if you hit a plateau you will not know how to climb over.

Bobby Jones, an American amateur golfer, once said that he never learned a thing from the tournament he won. Whether it’s lady luck on your side or an extremely high IQ that got you whatever you wanted in the very first or even second attempt, do not let yourself fall into the “I am successful because I did everything right” trap.