“Disruptive Marketing” by Geoffrey Colon
In the framework of Armenian Science and Technology Center project by TSD
“What is the best seat on the bus?” During the regular training class “From Good to Great”, we were asked to answer this question, which at first sight looked like a general personality assessment test. I thought about the driver’s seat, but actually, the point was rather different. “All seats are best if they are chosen right”. I thought for a while, and you never knew, what I’ve thought. Now, in this case, we observed “bus” as our business platform, and, really, what kind of BUS-psychology we have, the way we are doing BUSiness and the way our economy thrives. So, I thought about to start research on “Bus-Psychology in Various Countries and the Influence on the Development of Business Character”. And WHAT IF I can really make valuable research that can reshape our business behavior and present it from a different viewpoint? As “Sometimes you need to look at life from a different perspective.”[1]
“Disruptive marketing” is about this. Technology advances, Internet development, and the rise of social and digital media are all contributing to the radical pace of the changes we have today. Disruptive marketing is a blend of tinkering, psychology, sociology, anthropology, neuroscience, art, design, math, lateral thinking, predictive analytics, APIs, and measurement. It is not enough for a marketer to be all analytical or all creative - to be a search engine marketer or a graphic designer, to be a photographer or a coder. The modern marketer should be all of those things and more. “Viewing the world in silos is a linear, rational, and totally conventional way to approach marketing. And life”[2]. But wait! Do I need to know all of this? It sounds quite strange?!
Though Disruptive marketing is about acting differently, it is not about doing everything at the same time. Multitasking is defined as “the performance of multiple tasks at one time”[3]. However, the term “multitasking”, comes from “computer multitasking”[4]. This refers to a computer’s ability to perform several tasks at the same time. Human multitasking, therefore, is a human’s ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time. But, what tasks are we talking about? First, what is a task? The task is “a piece of work to be done or undertaken”. But, logically, how can I read a book, play on the piano, or drink a cup of coffee? If we are talking about watching TV while checking texts, listening to music while working, or walking while talking to someone, or in a workplace taking phone calls while typing an email and reading a book. This is not multitasking, it is just routine actions which I can concentrate effectively. And really, when I have realized, I started to work more quickly and concentrate on one task and after that to shift for the next one. But quite long, I have imagined multitasking like acting as an octopus or a hopeless juggler and as a result, used to (1) lose my way when interrupted, (2) forget important things often, (3) all the time feel overwhelmed, (4) have important things not completed and (5) see that my work was unsatisfactory. However, in Disruptive marketing, you are not doing all of this at the same time but one by one – “You don’t need to know everything. You simply need to know where to find it when necessary.”[5] Here’s a good question, HOW?
Geoffrey Colon[6] says, “The place where selling is dead, but on-going conversation thrives; where consumers generate the best content about brands; where people tune out noise and listen to feelings”[7]. This is about disruptive marketing (DM hereinafter). DM depends on emotional intelligence, data analysis, and immersive customer connections. DM-ers listen carefully to learn what customers want. They set up extended conversations with customers to promote products and services[8]. DM-ers combine analytical and creative abilities and are expert at strategy and execution: they prefer “analytics, design and philosophy”[9] to “traditional business studies” and they focus on “customer experience” and “social business models”[10], rather than “hierarchical” organizational charts. Most are generalists who can do data analytics, video production, website design, and search engine marketing. DM is about lifelong learning which life motto is “Lead with the heart and not with dry data”.
We talk about the creative approach and critical analysis, problem-solving or out-of-box thinking, which is all about DM. But, what if I say “I don’t have all of this”, so, what? “Am I hopeless, and all the doors of business making are tightly closed to me?” The Socratic Method, namely “a form of a cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions” is as popular as ever in a liberal arts education because it helps develop critical thinking skills that are indispensable in the business world - including marketing - for the twenty-first century[11]. So, these what or what-if or anyway questions will lead us during this report to draw out some ideas which will support figuring out what DM is.
“Everyone is looking for employees who can do critical thinking and problem-solving. . . . What they are really looking for are people who can invent, re-invent, and re-engineer their jobs while doing them.”[12] So, what stands for critical thinking or problem-solving? As Einstein said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think”, which we lack so much in our education. Or, as Richard Branson stated, “Critical thinking is the key to creative problem-solving in business”. And what about creativity? Creativity is a matter of differentiation. In the new economy, it isn’t simply about selling but also about how you will stand out from the crowded online pack. How you present yourself as a thinker in a world seeking new solutions in the ongoing transformation. Those who can deliver creativity into actual disruptive and disciplined execution plans have the potential to be the future leaders of this new world[13]. And, those who can present the same “product” but in a different way will be front-runners as in the 21st century we are not selling products but ideas.
Nowadays, we are hearing the word “disruptive” quite often (To tell the truth this was the very first time I have heard it). It’s a buzzword in many industries and can mean different things to different people. It all revolves around giving the people exactly what they want. But before “disruptive marketing” started to take shape, disruption started elsewhere, in innovation. This concept has been around for a much longer time than disruptive marketing. Disruptive innovation[14] is a term coined by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen in 1997, though the actual process has been around much longer. It is defined in the Harvard Business Review as “a process whereby a smaller company with fewer resources is able to successfully challenge established incumbent businesses.”[15] Some great examples of disruptive innovation are transistor radio, pocket calculator, telephone, cell-phone, or self-driving car. They overtake the market, succeed, and become the new world order.
So, how DM differ from traditional marketing? Disruptive innovations make things accessible. They take things that only a certain segment of the population could attain, and find a way to distribute it to the masses. So, what does this have to do with disruptive marketing? Well, DM uses the same idea, where it takes something people used to do and approaches it differently[16]. That’s the fact that forces people to stop and look. Consumers want to be a part of the conversation. They want access. DM gives them that access. It connects consumers with brands on a more human level. It innovates. Not only does it encourage people to think about things differently, but it also analyzes data that might not normally be given the time of day. Some great examples of DM in the real world are Nike, HBO, Toyota, Air Wick.
So, how to incorporate DM into real-life strategy? To promote or not to promote? That is the question. One of the biggest underlying trends I can find in DM is that it attempts to engage with and relate to the consumer. However, before engaging customers in a campaign, first I need to be engaged. If I have my business or lead a business or whatever, in order to have a successful disruptive campaign, I will need to start with stepping into the consumer’s shoes. What do they need? What do they want? How do they spend their days? Refining my audience and making my target more specific, is my priority must. This is when I place my 4Ps[17], this is the time when I direct my product to the needed place. Now that I have considered the needs of my audience as they pertain to my business, how can I reach them on a different level? What won’t they expect? How can they use my product in a way they didn’t think they could before? What makes it a bigger part of their day? What will make them think of my brand as human? With so many fantastic campaigns out there, it can be tempting to follow a similar format to something that’s been done. However, I need to be unique. I should not be afraid to take risks, however, the risk should be calculated, otherwise, I would look like a Vegas gambler. With so many brands realizing the power of social engagement and the need for a human element, we’re only going to see DM grow and evolve. Who knows?
But why I won’t make the above mentioned or what marketing mistakes will my business make? “Many businesses are driving down technological road without really focusing on people. We have to remind ourselves what motivates people, what consumers do, how they behave, and then ask the question of how they misbehave … I think if businesses can realize this and sheet their experience around the human zeitgeist or the conscience they’ll actually be able to adapt to changes quite well”[18]. To adapt to changes - what Colon meant by stating so? How can marketers keep up with the pace of change and adapt to changes? There are a number of blogs, articles, and other things online, but as Colon advises it is much efficient to sign up for specific applications even if you don’t think you are going to use them. “I remember a couple of years ago telling a number of people to use vine which was a micro-video platform, and everyone said why, why I’m going to use this for business”[19]. Tools are the only way to reach people, they remind ourselves what motivates people, what are their interests, what’s their age, what’s their education level, where do they live, etc. A lot of information is very helpful because “the business world is really moving more to dialogue than a narrative”[20]. Well, in the 21st century in the time of the 4th Industrial Revolution, in the time of change what should we do, adapt, or die? Adapting to various situations does mean changing my manner, behavior, or the way of acting. If I have taken a challenge, a game, I have accepted its rules and somehow in a time I have confronted an unpleasant effect, so how will I act? I can’t leave. “Adapt or die?” How will I do it? Defend or attack, adapt, or die? Indeed, ADAPT but in a way to win and live. They're a perfect vision about this: “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude”[21].
Marketing is a process of finding a balance between. “We have moved from the agricultural era to the industrial era and to knowledge era and now, we live in this sort of creative era. What you do with all this information. Just having it doesn’t make us better. We have to use them creatively in ways to make the world more interesting”[22]. DM is about taking more chances, it is a platform, which develops customer-centric culture, it is a sort of DIY project, which bestows you an opportunity to surf your wave. As the old saying says, the more things change the more they stay the same. So is marketing. “The most important thing is how to use disruptive innovation with creative destruction – many of us don’t have a lot of money for marketing but that shouldn’t prevent us. It’s about how we use these tools, how we manipulate those tools, how we hack those tools: social advertising and search marketing and physical world. How you persuade and influence people so as they talk about you. But not all the time but at the moments that are actually the most important”. The market is about how we mark it. The market is about how we mark that very moment.
Sources
[1] Inas Chahboun, a freelance writer.
[2] Geoffrey Colon. “Disruptive Marketing”. AMACON, New York, p. 112.
[3] Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com
[4] The first published use of the word "multitask" appeared in an IBM paper describing the capabilities of the IBM System/360 in 1965. In this context, "multitasking" refers to the ability of a computer to apparently process several tasks, or computer jobs, concurrently. The term has since been applied to human tasks. (IBM Operating System/360 Concepts and Facilities - Witt, Bernard I. & Lambert, Ward)
http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/os/R01-08/C28-6535-0_OS360_Concepts_and_Facilities_1965.pdf
[5] John Bruner, John Kilian Houston Brunner was a science fiction author. His work in the new wave sub-genre is highly acclaimed and influential. His earlier space operas are generally considered unremarkable.
[6] Social data expert Geoffrey Colon is a Microsoft communications designer. Using social data and digital tools, he focuses on growth marketing for Microsoft search advertising products.
[7]Kate Harrison. “3 Things You Need to Know About "Disruptive Marketing" Now”, NOV 22, 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateharrison/2016/11/22/three-things-you-need-to-know-about-disruptive-marketing-now/#5d7cd73c35e0
[8] Geoffrey Colon. “Disruptive Marketing”. AMACON, New York, pp. 44-46.
[9] Imbd., pp. 101-102.
[10] Imbd., pp. 13-17.
[11] Imbd., p. 4.
[12] Imbd., Thomas Friedman wrote about just this scenario in his book The World Is Flat, p. 13.
[13] Imbd., pp. 65-69.
[14] “Disruptive Innovation”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu6J6taqOSg
[15] Clayton M. ChristensenMichael E. RaynorRory McDonald, “What is Disruptive Innovation?”, December 2015 Issue, https://hbr.org/2015/12/what-is-disruptive-innovation
[16] “Disruptive Innovation”, http://www.claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/
[17] Geoffrey Colon. “Disruptive Marketing”. AMACON, New York, pp. 16 -17.
[18] “Geoffrey Colon on Disruptive Marketing”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqvO4a0tEtM
[19] Imbd.
[20] Imbd.
[21] Maya Angelou - American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.
[22] “Breaking the Mold with Disruptive Marketing with Geoff Colon”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz9OQokXPjo