The Rogue Marketer

I heard some good guidelines on audience information learning and retention.

The day after a presentation the audience member remembers:

• 10% of what they heard
• 30% of what they have seen
• 60% of what they have seen and heard simultaneously

Net: Always have visual proof for what you say

Source: Xerox

We all see the world is changing, the question is always how fast and so what.   Sometimes it pays to take a step back and look at a snapshot of where we are.  One of my colleagues once said that the greatest sin in marketing and advertising is to allow your history to date you.  Old perspectives color the new causing what you do to look out of sync with popular culture.   

My Dad sent me a You Tube Video that reviews some common statistics that help to paint an interesting picture of the world today.  I suggest every marketer take a look.  Here are some of the highlights:

• China will soon be the #1 English speaking country

• 25% of India's kids, if honors students, are greater in number than all of our students combined

• The top 10 in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004, meaning we are preparing our kids for jobs that do not exist today.

• US Department of labor says the average worker will have 10 jobs by the time they are 38

• 1 in 8 married couples met on-line

• There are 31 billion searches on Google every month (up from 2.7 billion in 2007)

• The number texts messages sent every day is greater than the population of the planet

• Accelerated Technology Adoption - Years to reach 50 million people - radio 38 years, TV 13 years, Internet 4 Years, IPOD - 3 years, Facebook - 2 years

• 4 exabytes of information will be developed this year, more than the previous 5000 years

• Amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years

• 694,000 songs are downloaded every 5 minutes

Here's th complete video.  I haven't fact checked all of these 2009 statistics, but they feel directionally right and worth thinking about.  After viewing you have to say to yourself, "Am I marketing the same way I did 5, 10, 20, 30 years ago"?  Is my public relations program any different?  Awareness building?  Internet Strategy? Brand Building?  if yes, perhaps it is time for a re-evaluation.

If you ever wanted to understand the passion a great brand and product can provoke, just watch this video of children opening their Christmas presents.  Thanks to Seth Godin for sharing.  Ignore the negative comments on Seth's blog regarding our material society.  The Wii is cool.  It's a great product, brilliant packaging and it delivers a fantastic experience...that gets better with each new game that is introduced.

The Millionaire in the Mirror: How to Find Your Passion and Make a Fortune Doing It--Without Quitting Your Day Job is one of those self help career books you pick up by chance and then learn from for a lifetime.  The author, Gene Bedell, is an accomplished entrepreneur and executive coach who provides insight into how to join the top 1% of earners.   It is true to its' "look in the mirror" approach where Mr. Bedell forces the reader to take an honest look at where they are in their career and then provides advice on how to redirect their energy.

The premise of the book is simple.  You need to have clear long and short term career objectives that turn you into a "heat seeking missile" toward achieving "outstanding success".  This is defined as someone who has significant influence in their field and/or has achieved earnings in the top 1% of all Americans.  Top earners equate to $40 million over a lifetime.  The book provides practical advice on how to deliver on the recommendations made and provides the encouragement to change. 

Reading Millionaire in the Mirror at this time of year was both troubling and exhilarating.  Troubling because it forces you to face up to missed career opportunities (particularly when I was trying to relax by the pool during my Florida holiday break), but exhilarating because there is always corrective action you can take today.

The The Millionaire in the Mirror has had a profound effect on the way I am going to be focusing my energies in the New Year and for the rest of my career.  I highly recommend it for anyone looking to set short and long term career objectives.  It should be required reading for every college graduate.