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The Rubicon Agency
In Programme planning, Proposition development, Strategic content

Avoiding the technology vision vacuum

Vision vacuum blog header

Here’s an apocryphal story about ‘vision’. During the space race of the 1960s, a NASA employed road-sweeper was tending the rail path for the Apollo 11 rocket to reach its launch pad. He was asked what he was doing. ‘I’m putting men on the moon’, he replied.

Fast forward to 1984 and Steve Jobs is proclaiming that ‘the world will never be the same’ with the introduction of the iMac personal computer.

The importance of vision and thought leadership

Vision can be a powerful marketing asset when it’s developed and applied properly. On the other hand, an apparent lack of corporate vision and brand positioning can create a vacuum for competitors to fill with their own thought leadership. But vision is not necessarily about establishing a thought leadership position that few have seen before. It’s about painting a picture of an aspirational and positive future.

For a technology marketer, vision has to be more than a strapline or a cut and paste copy block from brand guidelines. With extended influencing and decision making groups amongst customers and prospects, the vision for a technology proposition has to pass through several lenses. It can’t be blurred or so distant it can’t be seen. And it has to be focussed on customer needs and aspirations. An effective vision or thought leading view of a tech marketing future has the power create a positive glow around a product or service.

Making thought leadership work harder

Once the vision or thought leadership notion is articulated it should permeate all content assets – from product sheets to high-level presentations – and everything else between. So instead of leaving the vision itself in a vacuum, it becomes credible, useable and attainable. In short, it becomes the glue that holds technology, service and brand propositions together.

The most successful examples of thought leadership promotion not only stimulate brand enthusiasm but can also create expectation and anticipation in the customer’s mind. Think of the zeal of early-adopters queueing overnight outside Apple stores.

If it’s a disruptive vision or thought leading position it needs careful articulation. People don’t buy disruption, they buy what’s best or better.

A message elevator can help to establish a vision or thought leadership that’s credible and supported by a portfolio of technology propositions capable of helping customers to achieve that vision. The vision itself can be elevated or grounded. It can be universal, or tailored to a vertical market. And if the idea of communicating a vision sounds awkward or even pretentious, you only have to remember that successful technology either begins with a vision, or aligns with a vision as market success grows.

Take a look at our quick guide to discover how content can be more ‘killer’ and less ‘filler’.

The Rubicon Agency
In Corporate comms, Programme planning, Thought leadership

Killer content for technology marketing

Killer content blog header

Somewhere between quality and quantity there’s a point at which content can be more ‘killer’ than filler’.

A point at which content can fulfil its proper role as a bridge between broadcast marketing propositions and customer acquisition.

Finding that point requires objectivity bordering on ruthlessness.

When marketing began embracing the power of content in the new digital age, the initial challenge seemed to be creation and curation. Now, it seems there’s no shortage of content flowing from a multitude of channels towards a market that appears to be drowning rather than waving.

As the enabler of the digital marketing age, the technology sector not only has ‘paternal’ rights to its content distribution capabilities but should also be one of its biggest beneficiaries. Let’s face it, technology marketing is different. It needs all the help it can get in order to penetrate extended decision making groups; align with buying cycles; provide clarity on complex technical arguments, and translate innovations into ‘must-have’ market benefits.

Content objectivity begins with an audit of everything you have that falls into the content spectrum – from a white paper to a vision manifesto and everything else between. If you’ve read the best-selling book ‘The life-changing magic of tidying’ by Marie Kondo you’ll realise that with the right method and mindset, any mountain of accumulation (in this case, content) can be conquered.

There is a method and a mindset that can be applied to creating killer content. It includes a recognition of ten typical reasons to conduct an audit; a checklist of sixteen essentials; four alternative assessment enablers and four key criteria for creation and curation. And if that sounds complicated, the good news is you don’t have to do it yourself. In fact, you’re more likely to get the best result if you leave it to a specialist.

Find out more by downloading The Rubicon Agency free guide: ‘Killer or Filler – assessing content success for technology marketers’.

The Rubicon Agency
In Programme planning, Sales enablement

Five routes for implementing a content audit

Five routes for implementing a content audit

So you’ve identified the fact that your content has turned feral and requires an audit in order to keep it on-point. Realising the need to action this and actually implementing it, are two completely different things.

So what are your options?

Head in the sand

Well, the easy option and by no means the wisest, is to do nothing. The lack of budget, resource and skills may naturally demote the priority of reviewing the merits of your marketing assets from a necessity to a ‘nice to have’. The net result means that you carry on with the status quo more in hope than expectation that the content will resonate with your audience.

D.I.Y

Another approach is to conduct the assessment in-house. This mitigates the need for additional budget but does require a secondment of resource to complete the project. With head count often scarce, this could restrict your ability to perform a D.I.Y audit internally. There is also the additional risk that your content won’t be critiqued agnostically, after all it was produced by your peers and represents a view, a vision or a business/technical posture of your organisation. ‘Good’ content may be championed internally but may fail to deliver when syndicated to your prospects.

Ab Fab

The next route is to task your PR agency to conduct the review. From a journalistic point of view this may seem like a logical approach especially if they are technology specialists. Assessing pitch, tone and target audience should be second nature to a PR specialist. However expanding the content into a fully joined up marketing strategy may come as a stretch and fall outside of their capabilities.

Social soundboard

The same could be said for commissioning a dedicated social agency. Looking through the lens of ‘social-ability’, content will be assessed to see how sharable it can become through networks and communities. Messaging flex is important when ‘chunking’ content for the purposes of social distribution, although if the actual nub of the content is weak to begin with the results could be catastrophic if syndicated in social space.

Marketing mojo

The final option, and the one that has a more rounded approach to it, is to contract a marketing agency (with an affinity for technology) to critique your assets. Marketing agencies worth their salt should be judged on ROI, so analysing the content that ultimately they will use in their marketing campaigns is a natural progression.

Ensuring that the core message & pitch, vibrancy, audience resonance and ability manifest itself is critical to planning a successful content strategy and joined-up marketing approach.

We all know the importance of content. To leave it to evolve organically and even produce it sporadically without control runs the risk of attracting the wrong kind of audience or worse, no audience at all.

To understand more about our unique M4 content audit framework and how it can help you supercharge your content, register your interest today.

The Rubicon Agency
In Programme planning, Sales enablement

Why content audits sort the wheat from the chaff

Content audits - sorting the wheat from the chaff

Yes, we’ve all heard the expression that content is king, and that it plays a major role in influencing and even accelerating purchase decisions - especially in technology.

A strategic thought leadership piece, a well-timed blog article or a disruptive webcast can all open doors to decision makers outside of IT. But how can you be sure that that the content you are syndicating really has the cut-through you require?

The starting point for any marketer should be to conduct a content audit of their existing collateral to make sure that it ticks the boxes of the following 4 areas. Failure to do so leaves you open to scrutiny, missing the mark or publishing vanilla content that doesn’t cut-through at all, leaving both your Marketing Qualified Leads database and budget pot looking decidedly empty.

Messaging & pitch

The first question, which is usually governed by budget, time and resource, is whether to create or curate. Curation is the easier option, but the real question is does this satisfy your marketing objectives? Is the pitch of the content right? Does it talk to the audience in the language they are accustomed to?

Yes, the subject matter may be relevant, but if the message and pitch are ‘off base’ then there is absolutely no point in dusting off content from the marketing cupboards and sending it out more in hope than expectation.

Meaning and audience relevance

The next consideration should really be relevance to the audience. Distributing a deep-dive white paper on network architectures is absolutely fine if that’s what the audience usually consumes, but if the desired outcome is to stimulate conversation with a more business-oriented individual then you’ve missed the mark by a country mile.

Creating marketing mojo

Making sure that the pitch and relevance is on-point is a must. Ensuring your audience digs deeper than just the executive summary is imperative. However it’s not time to rest on your laurels just yet. Getting their attention is one thing, keeping it is another. Yes, the content may be right on the money but if it’s not engaging, entertaining or is just plain bland then the consumer is likely to hit the snooze button.

Manifestation & application flex

Being able to flex your message really depends upon the foundations you’ve built your content on. Having a robust message platform from the start really dictates how the content can be evolved over time. Dissecting the core proposition ready for social syndication, providing a linear customer journey dependent upon buyer maturity and being able to take on chameleon-like properties (I.e. adapting to different audiences and formats), ultimately determines if your approach has marketing stretch. Without proper planning you could inadvertently limit the scope of your conversation and result in your content being driven down a creative cul-de-sac.

Above are 4 ‘watch-outs’ that content marketers should be mindful of before any content syndication takes place. Taking a ‘suck it and see’ approach to content could result in low balling your proposition or turning off potential suitors altogether. Implementing a robust content strategy at the start of the campaign certainly alleviates uncomfortable wash-up meetings where the objectives have been missed.

To understand if your content could do with a shot in the arm, register for our unique M4 content audit.

The Rubicon Agency
In Programme planning, Sales enablement, Strategic content, Thought leadership

When content goes bad – the business case for auditing your collateral

When content goes bad

Producing content is an expensive exercise - in terms of time, resource and ultimately marketing budget.

So, how can you be sure your investment is delivering long term benefits? Not just initial enquiries, but much further and deeper than contact acquisition. An effective content strategy extends and strengthens customer relationships.

There can be no argument about the role content has within the technology sector, and how it makes up a critical part of the marketing mix. As early adopters of content marketing, the technology industry now faces new challenges as the late majority realise the value of content and joining the increasingly noisy party.

Content creation, if left unchecked, is in danger of losing its lustre. Coined back in 1997, CNet’s notion that ‘Everyone’s a publisher’ has definitely rung true. Content is no longer produced by niche teams, instead publishing sprawl has bled into other functions within the organisation. Now social departments, comms teams, product experts and business leaders all contribute to corporate content. This has resulted in variable levels of quality – in addition to moving us closer to saturation point where killer material is lost in the sheer noise of advertised ‘premium’ content.

So what are the essentials qualities for successful content?

What are the magic ingredients that make up killer content? Is it the promise of industry insight, best practice techniques, cutting edge research or inspiring thought leadership material that entice our target audience? Well, yes and no. These are all tried and tested methods, but how many times have you felt ‘suckered in’ after you’ve handed over your contact details?

Dangling the proverbial carrot of premium content often fails to deliver once we digest it; Regurgitated opinions, stale executions or uninspiring content leave the consumer feeling short changed and disenfranchised with your brand.

Too often, content is utilised as a contact acquisition tool, however if planned and executed from a 360° perspective the value can be increased exponentially. Applying more rigour outside the initial purchasing phase helps enable other functions within the organisation, including channel teams, field marketers, sales and account management. Providing progressively influential arguments accelerates the purchase cycle and even exploits customer relationships post acquisition.

How can those qualities be measured?

Making sure your message inspires interest and then maintains it is critical to how we measure the value of each asset. Ultimately, engagement, not just social metrics including likes, comments and shares, but more tangible measures (as stated in the introduction) are the benchmark here. Yes, Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL’s) are important but they shouldn’t be considered the only yardstick to measure success (or failure). Content should be part of the marketing mix for the long-haul and should go much deeper than a data acquisition tactic. In reality, it’s not just a numbers game.

Prospects may have felt duped after the first wave of activity could, on the face of it, be considered a warm lead when in reality they aren’t. The key, is to ensure that you have a campaign structure that contains equally engaging, entertaining and useful content that builds brand trust, engagement and ultimately advocacy.

Producing ‘deceitful’ content may yield an initial response, but value to the business may be minimal. Being too populist could result in droves of unqualified leads, too niche and the number of relevant leads could be reduced to a trickle.

How can they be improved?

The answer is to look at the bigger picture not just individual assets. Just as you would with an outreach campaign, each stage should be evaluated. Who am I talking to? What is the message we want to get across? Is it pitched correctly? Is it engaging? Does it align with the business strategy? What do we want them to do next? Looking at your content holistically may add an extra stage to the process but in the long run it makes good business sense.

Failure to properly audit your content inventory could prove costlier in the long-run with outreach budgets and potential customers being lost.

To make sure your content isn’t in danger of turning bad, register for our unique M4 content audit.

The Rubicon Agency
In Disruptive technology, Market development, Our industry, Thought leadership

Technology markets don’t buy disruption

Technology markets don’t buy disruption

In the world of technology, new or better doesn’t necessarily mean disruptive.

Unless ‘new’ means revolutionary and ‘better’ means businesses and markets have to think or behave differently, then it’s not true disruption.

Do an online search for  ‘disruptive technology’ or ‘disruptive innovation’ and you’ll see they stir up discussion and debate. Talking of Google, here’s a good example: the Google search engine algorithm was not in itself disruptive. It was AdWords, its advertising service. By offering a self-service ad product for as little as $1, it disrupted the previous model sustained by Yahoo who in turn had sustained the traditional advertising model of premium rates for display advertising.

Combine disruptive technology with business models, sales, market and economic dynamics and it becomes part of a bigger displacement which is disruptive innovation. Computers are a prime example of disruptive innovation. Whilst the original mainframe computers were a technology innovation, they only began to create significant, global disruption when the concept of ‘one computer, many users’ was overturned with the introduction of personal computers which enabled ‘one user, many computers’.

People don’t buy disruption, they buy ‘better’. Understanding what’s better can often be a challenge with disruptive technology. Sometimes, it doesn’t fall neatly into the categories of bigger, better, faster or even cheaper.

The first mobile phones were certainly bigger than we’re used to today and they could in no way claim to be cheaper than landline phones. Whilst they were seen as ‘desirable’ they were also open to derision, accusations of elitism and viewed by horrified company accountants as unnecessary and very expensive. And of course, early mobile phones also had limited, unreliable network coverage for the small minority of early adopters who used them.

Taking disruptive technology and innovation to market means communicating effectively with early adopters right through to laggards. It means harnessing enthusiasm and managing scepticism with neither being confined exclusively to users and buyers – internal sales forces and external channels can be evangelists and sceptics too. With clarity, context, joined up thinking and realistic timescales, it can be done. And when it does succeed, the prize is much bigger and longer lasting for those technology companies that aren’t afraid to cross the rubicon.

Find out how TRA takes disruption to market at the point where technologies and business models are being displaced – when opportunity and threat co-exist.

Find out more
The Rubicon Agency
In Brand strategy, Disruptive technology, Market development, Programme planning, Thought leadership

Map, message and migrate – the path to disruption

Blog – the path to Disruption

It’s true that each of the ‘3 Degrees of Disruption’ will cause waves of discontent with traditional users, value chains and routes to market.

But ultimately, their ‘value creation’ needs to outweigh the ‘value erosion’. There’s a multiple of indices to this value – with wealth/prosperity, employment, competitiveness, innovation, sustainability and wellbeing at the more esoteric and philosophical level. For the more everyday marketer there’s market-share, customer sentiment, revenue streams and lifetime customer spend. The list across the two levels is extensive.

However, these two levels are not quite as disparate as they seem. For the disruption to fully succeed, the marketing function has to combine the attributes and qualities of both levels to vision, lobby, evangelise and trade their way to success. This is crucial as the key influencer group often includes commentators, media opinion formers, industry leaders and practitioners of the ‘current normal’ – as well as the ‘next normal’.

Take automated vehicles and transport as an interesting example. Whist there’s definitely a provocative user story there, it’s easy to ignore the impact on other stakeholders – town planners, insurance companies, driving schools, safety bodies, regulators/policy makers. For this disruption to be realised, it’s crucial that these stakeholders get on-board for the journey (excuse the pun!). If not, they will dissent, distract and deflect the evolution to death.

Marketing leaders need to articulate and quantify the two levels of value using an exciting and ever-expanding range of digital, social, experience and content tools. But, many marketers go into execution mode too quickly, without establishing robust stories and stakeholder visions at the outset. It’s essential that they’re developed in the early days – even though they can be recalibrated over time.

Let’s explore the pathway to Map, Message and Migrate to Disruption:

Map, Message and Migrate to Disruption infographic

It takes tech experience, marketing dexterity and a Jackanory-mindset to tackle the two levels. The pioneers of Disruptive Technology will typically demonstrate rapid change in terms of price/performance/choice relative to alternative approaches. Or they experience breakthroughs and improvements in capability that were previously unachievable. Dramatising this for the whole influencing and decision making group is arguably marketing’s most important task.

The Rubicon Agency
In Brand strategy, Disruptive technology, Market development, Programme planning, Thought leadership

Disruptive tech – navigating the ‘3 Degrees of Disruption’

Navigating the 3 degrees of Disruption

‘Disruptive Technology’ is a mere two words – but with the power to change all of our lives (business and consumer).

A daydream involving cloud computing, automated transportation, Internet of Things and mobile internet leaves you thinking wistfully about the innovation possibilities. This is just a snapshot of Disruptive Tech – but you still have outcomes and probabilities that will change how we live, work and play for decades to come.

However, not all Disruptors are created equal. There’s a relativity to their ‘trouble-making’ that can be captured broadly by the ‘3 Degrees of Disruption’.  Each degree has a consequential effect on markets, technology and the broader society – with the most dramatic and impactful of innovations having a seismic effect on all three.

Let’s explore the ‘3 Degrees of Disruption’ in more detail.

Each of the 3 Degrees of Disruption fuels rapid innovation in products, services, business processes and go-to-market strategies. Consequently, each degree needs a different approach to addressing marketing challenges – with a unique mix of activities and programmes to meet the idiosyncrasies’, embedded agendas and opportunity creation of the marketplace and value chain.

It can be a complex exercise understanding how much disruption and innovation to let loose on a workforce, distributor/reseller network and partner community. It needs a client/agency relationship that understands the new dawn of disruption – but understands the value and legacy of ‘that’s how it’s always been done’. It’s a relationship that requires a number of marketing skillsets and success blueprints to instigate and deliver the transformation, including thought leadership, channel development, social community development, market development and proposition development/message mapping.

In later blogs we’ll explore each of the degrees and characteristics in more detail, together with exercises around some of the successful technology and digital brands that have navigated the 3 Degrees of Disruption.

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