Thoughts on marketing

I'm really glad about something I just read this morning in a book called Ambient Findability, in a few words, the fact that marketing did not begin with all the silly media fuss that's currently taking place, but mostly, that it all started out as  conversation (ancient traders) and therefore the problem in our times is actually how this conversation was shifted into selling (pull to push) with what the author calls the holy trinity of mass production, mass marketing and mass media.

This may not be news for none of us, but we still tend to forget it all the time.  So this was a little reminder that we should also keep in mind when we are the customer, how easygoing it is when you just buy something for your pleasure (convinced only by your need, desire and inspiration), without all that noise that's constantly pushing you to do so.

And, again, putting on the professional cap, the power of pull is reflected in this beautiful explanation by Peter Drucker:

"There will always, one can assume, be need for some selling.  But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.  Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy.  All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available".

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Suuuper fan!

Of believers, creators, thinkers, developers...

pelotas?  if you want to call it that...    but have you ever made a difference?   are you trying to?   

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La isla

Es cierto, la mayor parte del tiempo me avergüenzo y reniego de mi país... hace más de 3 años que no estoy allí y poco menos que mi meta de contribuir a cambiar la República también empezó a agonizar.  Sigo sin tener intención de regresar, y para tristeza de mi familia sí, ahora mismo y con todas las "oportunidades" del mundo allí, volver sería como el peor de los castigos.

Todo esto viene a que, a pesar de mi negatividad, frustración y vagancia (porque quién dice que en la distancia no se puede hacer algo), hay iniciativas llevadas a cabo por una juventud con pilas inagotables que no se rinde ante nada, y que me enorgullecen e incluso me dan ganas de recargar, así que también voy a hacer eco de lo bueno.

Una de estas iniciativas es la Indhira Rojas, que a pesar de vivir en Estados Unidos se ha comprometido con la educación y el desarrollo en Dominicana con este preciosísimo proyecto.

Y por qué Design Thinking en RD? aquí está la respuesta...

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Heath and Heath, using statistics...

"Particularly in the realm of politics, tinkering with statistics provides lucrative employment for untold numbers of issue advocates.  Ethically challenged people with lots of analytical smarts can, with enough contortions, make almost any case from given set of statistics".

"Of course, let's also remember that it's easier to lie without statistics than with them.  Data enfources boundaries.  Unless people are unethical enough to make up data, the reality of the data contrains them".

"...the rest of us, who aren't spinmeisters, will still be tempted to put the best possible spin on our statistics.  All of us do it.  "I scored 16 points for the church basketball team tonight!" (Not mentioned: 22 missed shots and the loss of the game).  "I'm 5´6 feet" (Not mentioned the 3 inch heels). "Revenue was up to 10% this year, so I think I deserve a bonus".  (Not mentioned: Profits tanked)."

"When it come to statistics, our best advice is to use them as input, not output.  use them to make up your mind on an issue.  Don't make up your mind and then go looking for the numbers to support yourself - that's asking for temptation and trouble".

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Eduque a su inmigrante: Hoy cocina española

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A book passage that just hit my sweet spot...

In 1994, George Loewenstein, a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon University, provided the most comprehensive account of situational interest.  It is surprisingly simple.  Curiosity, he says, happens when we feel a gap in our knowledge ("Gap Theory").

Loewenstein argues that gaps cause pain.  When we want to know something but don't, it's like having an itch that we need to scratch.  To take away the pain, we need to fill the knowledge gap.  We sit patiently through bad movies, even though they may be painful to watch, because it's too painful not to know how they end.  

Read in Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath.

I guess this kind of helps accept that pain will never go away  :)

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Tendencias en la red

Esto es lo que han hecho los japoneses para representar visualmente las tendencias en Internet y las personas influyentes.

Más información aquí.

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Why I stopped reading your blog?

Well, before I say this I might as well tell you the reasons why I stared reading your blog:

• Insights.- Every single blog I started reading showed me something interesting and insightful, related to technology, design, user experience, consumer experience, psychology, literature, etc. It doesn´t have to be a new theory or invention, just some intuition.

• Simplicity.- Most times it isn´t really the insights itself, but the way they were explained (keep in mind that reading blogs is not reading a book, so the idea has to be clear enough to get through faster than in print).

• A fresh well established point of view.- I might not even agree with what you say, but the delicacy and responsibility with which you support it always earns my respect. Talking about a hot subject can always be interesting, but it relies completely on how it gets done.

• Stories.- Nothing makes a better example that a real case, familiar or not, it just makes you crave for more information.

• Discussions generated.- Added to the points on top, I also value your other readers, overall when they participate and bring along interesting conversations.

Now, this said, why did I stop following/feeling interest for your writing:

• Repetitive everything.- Not only subjects, but information, examples, etc... why write about something when you don´t have anything new to say?. (I might understand that some news are worth spreading, sometimes as help, but I´m not referring to this).

• Extremely long posts.- That I can never finish, just too much information together, why not separate it and let me/us readers (with so little time which we choose to give you) digest it? Remember, its not a book...

• Boredom.- Nothing personal, but I don´t care about the events you go to/participate in, and I also hate when you give constant lifetime reports of conferences you attend. I used you like your insights and opinions, but these summaries I can get elsewhere, even in videos.

• Advertising.- Yes indeed, your blog is filled with it, and don´t tell me you haven´t noticed, lately all you´ve been doing is promote yourself. You may have lost the touch, that´s the only explanation I can think of... because if you still had it, this wouldn´t be necessary. All of the sudden you need to tell your readers to follow you and how great you are, come on!

I´m sorry, I gave up on you....

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