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Marketing lessons from Seth Godin's keynote at Inbound 2015

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At Inbound 2015 Seth Godin held the spot of opening keynote. A few weeks later with some time to reflect here is my take on the key messages from his speech.

Making a difference as marketers

Whilst he didn't mention it, this has a strong resonance with 'Be the change you want to see in the world.' As marketers we have the opportunity to drive change. Seth cited the iconic marketing businesses of Harley Davidson and Apple as the embodification of marketing driving change.

Asking the question- What change do you want your customers to make?

Harley Davidson focused on the margins and brought outsiders into insiders.

Apple have changed us into people who have good taste in digital goods.

Both these businesses focused on the margins and a specific niche and made the margin the centre.

My key takeaway - Have you clearly defined the niche for your business and does your marketing and business embody the change you want to see?

Standing on the spot

To make a difference we need to be prepared to take responsibility - Stand on the spot.

The chances are that no one will give you the authority to make the change. You have to say I'm going to do this and take responsibility for what happens next. Change creates tension and you have to be prepared for that.

There is a part of the brain called the Lizard Brain, it is always seeking reassurance. There will never be enough reassurance for the Lizard Brain. The less reassurance you get the more important the work is. The right question is what change can I make.

Seth likened the tension to great art. Making the point that great art is often hated when it's first created - but the artist takes responsibility for it and for what happens next.

From my perspective as marketers we strive to make something that people love. Often the best way to achieve that is to make something that a very specific group love, and be prepared to stand behind that decision. Always remembering that change creates tension. You have to be prepared for this, otherwise you'll end up with something that pleases no-one by trying to please everyone.

My key takeaway - Plan and be prepared for the change that you are going to make and the tension you'll create. Aim for tension as that's a sign of change. To create something great be prepared to take responsibility for the tension and don't give in to it.

We're playing an infinite game - there is no clearly defined end point

We're all connected to a billion people via the device in our pocket. The game we are playing doesn't have a time limit, rules and a defined outcome.

Like juggling or playing catch with our kids in the connection economy we are playing an infinite game - we are weaving together an environment and community.

To highlight the challenge of an infinite game Seth gave the example of driving in India. He told the story of being driven to a city whilst on a trip there. There was no rush but the driver was intent on over taking every truck and car in front of him. He was taking crazy risks to get ahead. Going head to head with trucks twice the size and only pulling in at the very final moment. After 2 of the scariest hours of his life, Seth's driver finally made it ahead of the traffic to an expanse of open road.

He slowed down!

My key takeaway - In the connection economy there isn't a defined competition to get ahead of. It's an open road, you need to define where we're going and the sustainable pace that's right for your business. You don't want to be rushing to overtake false competitors only to slow down when you get to the open road. Instead work out the change you need to make and building the community to create the trend that others can follow.

In the connection economy building a community creates value

To define this Seth gave the example of a seed company whose aim it is to improve farmer’s yields in Africa. One woman who embraced the change has increased her yields by more than 3 times with the added benefit of consistent yields year after year. She has changed her fortunes, been able to school her children and live a comfortable life. However, despite successes like these they've had limited success in getting the majority of farmers to change. This woman is different, she embraces everything new. Whereas the majority - trust in doing what they've always done and doing the same as everyone else.

They realised that the challenge isn't about selling corn seed, it is getting people talking to each other. They looked at the great US farming state of Iowa. In Iowa the farmers aren't competing with each other, they are talking with each other. By realising that they aren't competing with each other - but are competing on a national and international level - the farmers in Iowa collaborate to make farming better for everyone.

In Africa they aren't competing against each other. They are competing to feed everyone consistently. The challenge isn't to sell more seed, it's to enable change - to grow the community who are sharing knowledge and creating the trend to follow.

My key takeaway - Define your community and collaborators. This is where value lies in the connection economy and you need a community to enable change. Work out the change you need to make and get to work building the community to create the trend that others can follow.

Share your thoughts

If you had the opportunity to see Seth Godin's keynote at Inbound 2015 - what were your key takeaways and what are your thoughts on my takeaways? If you didn't see it - what do you make of my takeaways? From the people that I spoke with afterwards - there were mixed opinions - which I imagine is exactly what Seth was looking for!

 

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