Bloghound

Several people have contacted me recently to learn more about the differences between buzz and meaning. (The second chapter in my book Beyond Buzz is “Make meaning, not buzz.” ) Here’s a quick explanation. I’ll share more in future posts.

[buzz] [meaning] [meaning making]

What do conversations have to do with innovation? Here’s an excerpt from a post by Chris Flanagan over at the non-profit Business Innovation Factory based on a talk I gave yesterday.

By definition, an innovation is something new and different. All too often, executives find themselves coming out of a sales meeting or vc meeting or employee meeting scratching their heads saying, ‘they just didn’t get it.” Creating interest and momentum around an innovation is all about conversational marketing. It taps into both the head and heart, and gets people to respond and perhaps accept a new way of doing things. As Lois says in her book, “intellectual food fights, candid debates, and frank perspectives help speed understanding. Don’t hide behind overly polite language, “safe” topics, and accepted business jargon. It clouds rather than clarifies.” Mastering conversational marketing just might be the hurdle between success and failure.

Walter Carl, associate professor of communications at Northeastern University and well-known word of mouth researcher, was recently interviewed by the Publicity Club of New England about word of mouth trends. You can read the full interview here.

Walter’s reminder to us of the three principles of human communication is especially noteworthy:

What are two ways that we could all communicate better?

How about three? Mindfulness, dual perspective, and balancing creativity and constraint. These are three principles of human communication.

Mindfulness is about being more aware and being centered in the present moment (very Zen). Accomplishing dual perspective is taking the other person’s perspective and then your own. And balancing creativity and constraint is a principle of both human and organizational communication. Individuals and groups are in continuous tension between balancing needs for control with creative expression. Understanding the need for both of these to co-exist and dance together at each moment is how individuals and organizations can become successful.

There’s no better resource for understanding how to tap into the power of conversations than the World Cafe and the organization’s book, The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter.

As marketers look for ways to create authentic dialogue with customers and others important and influential to their success, here are the seven World Cafe principles for hosting conversations that matter. These principles apply to both face-to-face and online conversations. Many thanks to Juanita Brown and David Isaacs of the World Cafe for sharing so much with so many.

1. Set the context: Clarify the purpose and broad parameters within which the dialogue will unfold.

2. Create hospitable space: Ensure the welcoming environment and psychological safety that nurtures personal comfort and mutual respect.

3. Explore questions that matter: Focus collective attention on powerful questions that attract collaborative engagement.

4. Encourage everyone’s contribution: Enliven the relationship between the “me” and the “we” by inviting full participation.

5. Cross-pollinate and connect diverse perspectives: Intentionally increase the diversity and density of connections among perspectives while retaining a common focus on core questions.

6. Listen together for patterns, insights, deeper questions: Focus shared attention in ways that nurture coherence of thought without losing individual contributions.

7. Harvest and share collective discoveries: Make collective knowledge and insight visible and actionable.

People are talking this week about “PR problems” at the Boston Red
Sox and Wal-Mart’s new War Room media strategy when the real problems
are leadership problems.

At a press conference yesterday Theo
Epstein talked to the media for 30 minutes about his resignation as
General Manager of the Boston Red Sox. He never explained the real
reason for resigning, and the rumors about a the nature of the falling
out between Epstein and Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino went supersonic.
Especially since Lucchino didn’t attend the press conference. (All the
other Sox execs were there, including owners John Henry and Tom Werner.)

Sportswriter Bill Reynolds wrote in this morning’s Providence Journal:

You would think he (Lucchino) would have been there for no other reason than he’s
the public face of this franchise, its CEO. You think he would have
been there to send out the message he wishes things could have been
resolved, that he wishes Theo well, blah, blah, blah, the new spin. You
would think he would have begun the first day of damage control, both
to his image and the perception that the Red Sox are going to be fine,
that the organization is strong enough to withstand the loss of anyone,
Epstein included.

Lucchino’s absence and the way the Epstein contract negotiations were handled tell you there are bigger leadership problems.

A front page story in Tuesday’s New York Times, “A New Weapon for Wal-Mart: A War Room/Retailer Tries Political Tactics to Help Image,” talked about how the retailer is taking a page from the political playbook to try to sell a better image to the public.

No
PR tactic – or even the best political strategists – can help a company
with weak leadership. And Wal-Mart is flip flopping all over the place.

Last week The New York Times
also reported on a leaked Wal-Mart memo discussing the company’s
strategy for selling its new employee healthcare plans to the public.
The memo said the company is testing the plan’s proposed changes “to
determine whether these investments would effectively ‘move the needle’
on Wal-Mart’s public reputation.”

Here’s what Wal-Mart should do to move the needle:

1. Get
   with the most innovative health care reformers in the country and
   develop a plan that’s good for employees and doesn’t break the
   company’s back (as is GM’s employee/retiree health benefits).
2. Take its huge PR budget and at least half of its advertising budget and use that to fund employee healthcare.

Poor management begets poor reputation. PR has nothing to do with it.

It’s 2006 planning time and the marketing frustration is beginning
to boil. “How do we set ourselves apart?” “How do we get more of a “big
bang”? “How can we make a difference with no budget increases?”

First,
throw away the “brand voice” definitions and marketing “messaging”
documents that haven’t worked. Try something different this year.
Create strategies around what your company really passionately believes
in. Get your customers thinking in new ways. Reframe how they think
about the industry and you. Create programs around ideas abd beliefs.
Let your people talk. Use more video and podcasting and fewer words.

Beliefs and ideas are very powerful stuff and difficult for your competitors to copy.

A
good way to learn more about reframing market conversations around
beliefs is to read linguist George Lakoff’s book, “Don’t Think of an
Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate.” While the book
focuses on how to change the political conversation, there are many
lessons for marketers who are trying to figure out how to communicate
their competitive difference, and their value to customers.

Lakoff provides a lot of guidelines, but says these four are the most important:

1. Show respect.
2. Respond by reframing.
3. Think and talk at the level of values.
4. Say what you believe.