Nov 08
1

Music Creation on the iPad Air

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I just purchased an iPad Air. I’ve considered buying an iPad previously, but for some reason I just couldn’t justify holding onto one as a long-term computing device. I’d have to say the iPad never fit into a need to have device category for me. It isn’t a phone, which fits my needs for business purposes, and it isn’t a laptop, which fits my needs for content creation and all-purpose computing. It’s something in-between; something entirely different from the other two. And it never felt necessary.

But now, with the new iPad air, Apple has trimmed considerable weight off the chassis of its tablet, slimmed the device’s width and added a screaming-fast 64 bit A7 chip. I’m not usually one to sweat tech specs, but here’s what those improvements have meant to me:

  • The iPad Air no longer feels heavy in one hand when holding for extended periods
  • The form factor feels closer to the iPad Mini rather than the 3rd or 4th gen iPad
  • This thing is fast; it actually feels as fast as my 2009 Macbook Pro (I imagine this is as much a function of iOS’ slimmer profile / feature set as it is the underlying chip architecture)

So while it’s still not a necessary tool like a phone or a laptop, it’s a great tool to do just about anything, including content creation.

The first app I fired up was Garageband and I was on my way to laying down some music. For someone who has always felt hindered by the mouse-and-keyboard paradigm in music recording software, recording on the iPad was intuitive and frictionless. I encountered a few bugs and things that need to work a little easier, but the general flow of laying down an audio track was astonishingly simple.

With desktop software, from Cubase to Pro Tools to Logic, I was always frustrated by the feeling that the software stood in the way of music creation rather than making it easier. Granted, I’ve known some guys who absolutely fly in those tools – but for me, I wanted to spend more time playing the instrument than learning the software. Making all the adjustments in those apps also had an effect on what I was actually trying to record – by the time I got it working the chords I was thinking of were gone. The iPad changes this for me.

Granted, Garageband is a consumer tool meant to be easy enough for people who have never played an instrument to get in and try their hand at recording something. It does this job well. But I contend that there is a small but vocal subset of musicians (both professional and amateur) that simply want to get their ideas down without much of a hassle. The iPad does this really well, too.

 

Mar 14
0

The Agonizing Wait (or, look, but don’t touch)

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One of the hardest things for a client to do is endure what I refer to as The Agonizing Wait. This is the period of time in which a campaign goes live but does not yet have enough data to fully optimize and improve. In other words, it’s the time that the money has started to spend but it’s too early to make any sound judgement calls. During this period, sales can be nail-bitingly low and costs too high. Feelings of fear ensue.

I really understand and empathize with this. I’ve had to actively cultivate an acceptance of this period, but I have only done so by seeing this happen over and over, only to end up with a winning campaign some time later. My services are measured on results, not promises, so I’ve done my fair share of nail-biting, albeit quietly. The thing is, the most important thing you can do during this period is wait.

Yes, wait.

Let me back up: in the beginning, if the client and the agent have done their jobs well, they have discussed the company’s strongest, most unique selling points, identified goals and fleshed out a strategy for achieving those goals. Ideas are put forward from both sides; the best ideas float to the top and the lowest yielding are let go. There is a gut feeling of “this is the right way to move forward”.

But the thing is, nobody really knows the true path to success in the future 100% of the time. There are educated guesses and hypotheses, but in order to prove or disprove them we need to get the strategy in front of your real customers, in the real marketplace. And before you evaluate whether it’s working or not, we have to sit back, give it time and allow good, solid, statistically-sound data to accrue. This is about as comfortable as eating glass. But as the dust settles and the data comes in, our job becomes a hyper-focused rally between two points: evaluation and refinement. And the campaign improves. And improves some more.

Each ad requires a large amount of clicks to prove statistically that it’s better or worse than the next. As good, sound data comes in, we evaluate it, test new hypotheses against the control groups, and then let this new data play out. Eventually, both client and agent start pruning a campaign into a winner. I always keep the image of trimming a bonsai tree or sculpting marble to keep my discipline.

Deep breathing and antacids work, too.

Feb 19
0

Bing, Unrealized

Posted by | SEM | No Comments

From Matthew Yglesias, Slate.com (reposted by John Gruber):

The problem with Microsoft’s online service offerings isn’t that their TV campaigns are lame. It’s not even that the products are bad. But they’re not wildly better than Google’s search and email and so forth. Most people are just incredibly lazy. It’s easy to forget, but it took Google Search and Gmail a remarkably long time to rise to dominance during a period when they wiped the floor with the competition on the merits. Now Google has that change-aversion and laziness working in its favor. To beat them, you have to crush them on quality. And Microsoft’s not doing that. No ad campaign can overcome the basic reality of human inertia.

Matthew is spot on here. Bing is a good search engine that delivers decent results for users and drives higher-than-average CTR’s for many advertisers. But in order to capture more marketshare from Google, they have to be at least 10X better in the search space to appeal to more users. They should have taken a fundamentally different view of what search is, why it’s important, and how they can deliver answers to users better. I’d love Bing to be great, so it can challenge the hegemony of Google.

I have yet to use Facebook’s Graph Search (still in beta), which has been getting mixed reviews – but at least Facebook has taken a new approach to an old paradigm.

Jan 30
0

Antiphon: Ancient Athenian Individualist

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“Most of the things which are legally just are [none the less] … inimical to nature. By law it has been laid down for the eyes what they should see and what they should not see; for the ears what they should hear and they should not hear; for the tongue what it should speak, and what it should not speak; for the hands what they should do and what they should not do … and for the mind what it should desire, and what it should not desire.”

– Antiphon, “On Truth”, 5th century B.C.

Antiphon felt that excessive ordinance binds the human spirit.

You can draw a straight line through history from these words to the Declaration of Independence.

Jan 07
0

Right-Brain Marketing

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Back when I was first learning Google AdWords and search engine marketing, I took a Google-sponsored seminar about the topic. An SEM expert gave a keynote presentation to about 30 of us. One by one, he showed us a few full page ads and almost immediately removed them from the projector. He asked us what we noticed in the ad from the few seconds it was shown. Surprisingly, the students had an amazing ability to describe what they liked or disliked about it. He went on to explain that after a search on Google, the average visitor spends just 6 seconds evaluating whether or not a particular website will deliver what they are looking for…

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Dec 27
0

They Could Have Been the Next Apple

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When HP purchased Palm for $1.2 billion, I had hope – as did many – that they would push the boundaries of webOS and grow it to scale. Of course, that didn’t happen.

The decision to open source webOS is better than just killing it, I suppose. But it still doesn’t solve the two fundamental problems that plagued webOS since its inception at Palm and prevented the fantastic operating system from achieving success. Those two problems are 1) poor & uninspiring hardware, and 2) failure to nurture and grow a thriving app economy.

Of course, HP introduced a third problem shortly after the purchase. That problem was massive, productivity-sapping bureaucracy, and it ultimately proved more cancerous than the first two.

I’m not the only one who had high hopes for the resurgence of Palm/HP. Many tech writers and enthusiasts wrote about the possibilities of this purchase. It’s always tough to see a bright future for a company while its team fails to execute. It’s even tougher to witness well-crafted work like webOS get mismanaged into obscurity.

For me, the catalyst for all this hope and potential was the idea of another vertically stacked company integrating a seamless marriage between hardware and software. Apple has proven that good software needs good hardware – and both need to be built by the same company in order to achieve prime simplicity for the user. HP knew this to be the right path. With this strategy, they could have presented a challenger to Apple. They could have been a worthy opponent to iPhone & iPad dominance.

The idea is seductive. Yet like most “what if’s”, it was ultimately too good to be true. Perhaps if HP had kept Mark Hurd on as CEO they may have had a shot. He had problems, but it seemed like he saw the light in building out webOS to its fullest potential.

For Apple, they sit alone and unchallenged as the kings of perfect integration. For HP, they’ve lost their opportunity. Perhaps if things went differently – much differently – they could have been the next Apple.

Dec 20
0

What’s Your Story?

Posted by | Branding, SEM | No Comments

For a company, the perception of its brand is everything. Companies spend billions each year on ensuring customers see their brands in a positive light. Countless dollars are spent on advertising. Companies adopt three screen initiatives that bombard and overload consumers with ads and flood them with information. Billions more dollars are pumped into consultants and efficiency groups to try to trim the message in a way that cuts through the noise of competition.

Now, I’m a marketer. It’s been my job to promote products and help them sell. I’m familiar with the techniques and tricks companies use to sway and compel people to buy. There are lots of tutorials and case studies on the efficacy of call to action, repetitive alliteration and key differentiators in ads. But here’s the thing that nobody seems to answer. In a hyper competitive landscape where everybody is pitching their product, how do you truly stand out?

Day in and day out, minute by minute, we are barraged with ads that tell us, command us – even plead with us – to buy their product. But fewer and fewer ads are succeeding in breaking through the noise. Don’t believe this is a problem for marketers? Next time, instead of fast forwarding through your DVR, spend one or two commercial breaks listening to the ads. Close your eyes and really listen. Count the number of times  you hear “call now!” or “try our offer!”. Nearly every final 10 seconds of a tv time slot is used this way. Start listening and paying attention to this and notice how all the ads start to congeal into one big, sloppy mess. Taken individually, the ads (mostly) aren’t all that bad. The problem is they’re not paying attention to how the other ads before and after their time slot dilute their messaging power. They’re not aware in the slightest bit how the consumer experiences a commercial break. And since most marketing departments are oriented and trained in the same manner, using the same techniques, the end result is a single, monotonous stream without variation.

Do calls to action work? Yes – they can. But they greatly lose their impact when everyone else is saying the same thing. Instead, try something different. Even if you don’t have an idea that is 100% unique, try bringing a new twist to your product or service that is 100% unique to you. This is not a gimmick. Be real and be honest about what you bring to the table. Primary differentiators are those that contribute to the creation story of the product or service. For example, what is the founder’s story? What were their struggles and successes? What special care is taken to make this product? How long was the recipe toiled over and tweaked until the finished product was worthy of selling? I love these stories, and other customers do, too. They form the cornerstone of brand loyalty. Stand outside a great bakery in the line that snakes all the way around the corner. Ask others why they stand in line there, as opposed to going across the street and buying. They’ll tell you things like “this is the only place that uses a real brick oven – and it makes a difference” or “their dough is always kneaded by hand. No machines.” Whatever the reason is, the story is memorable and unique – and can’t be attributed to competitors.

Ancillary differentiators are important, too. These can be outstanding customer service, or free shipping on all products, or a money back guarantee. Whatever it is, make sure you stand behind it completely. When you’ve got your differentiators down, write a single sentence that encapsulates what it is your company does and how it solves your customer’s problem using these distinguishing features. The sentence should be 10 words or less. Brownie points if it’s under 5. When you go to write your ad, make this sentence the focal point.

The key ingredient to this is that the answer must truly solve your customer’s problem. It must live up to your claims – not just in your marketing meeting, but in the customer’s real world. If you use this approach, you don’t really need a call to action at all. If you’re efficient at communicating your message, people will search you out on their own using Google, Bing, Facebook, et al. When they find you, if you stay consistent on your message, they’ll usually give you a try. If you deliver on your promise and meet their expectations, you will have just earned a repeat customer. Then they’ll tell other people about you, who will in turn seek you out. And before long, you’ll begin to hear your own customers retelling your unique story, as they stand outside your proverbial bakery, in the line that snakes around the corner.