#42: Stop asking Google, from sex object to a human being (in photos), hunting for empathy, and my INBOUND recommendations
So, I am literally on a plane right now 10,000 feet above anything, which by itself is an amazing feat of humanity that I refuse to take for granted, but I am SIMULTANEOUSLY FULLY CONNECTED TO THE WORLD AND THIS HERE "CAPITAL I" INTERNET.
OK, in this mile-high-club edition of The World's Best Newsletter...
1. Here are the sessions I recommend at INBOUND this year
2. From sex object to a human being!? Golly!
3. Two great examples of flipping the gender script
4. FYI, "B2B buyers aren’t predictable, perfectly rational machines."
5. It's nearly 2018 and we're still hunting for customer empathy.
6. I went to Brandathon! I wrote about it.
7. In more infuriating sexism examples (like we need more.)
8. Quote of the week "How to..."
Let's go!
1. Here are the sessions I recommend at INBOUND this year
I may be casually dropping into every conversation possible that Michelle Obama and I are speaking at the same event this year, INBOUND. Career goals.
If you're registering for sessions, here are some I recommend adding to your list:
Mine, duh. "Find an Enemy: How the Right Foe Can Motivate Your Buyers to Action" Tuesday Sep 26, 4:15am - 5:00pm
Sam Melnick's "Solving the Mystery of ROI: How to Find Marketing's Impact on the Business" Wednesday Sep 27, 4:45am - 5:30pm
Jess Marble's "Take Your HubSpot from a Mess to Success in 90 Days or Less" Wednesday Sep 27, 11:45am - 12:30pm
Trish Bertuzzi's "Account Based Revenue: An Executive Level Love Story" Wednesday Sep 27, 1:00pm - 1:45pm
There are countless others and I'm sure I missed some good ones! Reply here or Tweet @KatieMartell to tell me what you're planning to see.
ALSO: Boston Content is planning an event during INBOUND on Tuesday Sep 26th nearby the convention center. Save the date and get on the list to find out more details.
2. From sex object to a human being!? Golly!
Are stock image purchases a barometer for public perception? I say yes. And in that highly scientific tracking, the NY Times has GREAT news for all women: We are no longer merely sex objects in the eyes of marketers, huzzah! Rather, we are gritty mountain-climbing independent beings!
I joke, but this is actually pretty great.
"Over the last decade, the most sold images from Getty for the search term “women” have evolved from photos of mostly naked models to active women to ones in which women’s appearance is beside the point."
In 2007, the top-selling Getty photo for the search term “woman" was a naked woman under a towel.
In 2017, the most purchased photo for the search term “woman” in Getty Image’s library is of a woman hiking alone in Banff National Park.
The article has a nice chronological timeline demonstrating a type of evolution.
But, Pam Grossman, director of visual trends at Getty Images, says something important to squash that celebratory feeling you're having:
"It’s not good enough for companies to just say, ‘Hey, let’s put some diverse models in our projects. None of this matters unless it’s also about who you’re hiring, the opportunities you’re giving people, who you’re paying.”
Yes. Yes. YES.
3. Two great examples of flipping the gender script
It's been a big week in gender norm script-flipping. (Is that a thing? It should be.)
First, this thread from one of my favorite parody accounts "Man Who Has It All" is hilarious, and gaining some traction. It shows the ridiculous attempt by well-intentioned individuals who post on social media looking for suggestions to increase the diversity of their article, event agenda, course, book, or whatever.
We've all seen the posts.
"Anyone have examples of great women in tech I can add to this upcoming event?"
Facepalm. Really dude.
This parody asks "My friend is a history teacher. She's compiling a list of great historical figures and she needs a male to add to the list. Suggestions?"
And the responses are GOLD:
LOL
Read it: https://twitter.com/manwhohasitall/status/903713613550153729
The SECOND of two script-flips this week comes in the form of a perfectly ridiculous video "What if we treated male athletes the way we treat female athletes?"
My favorite line:
"Hey do you know who Roger Federer is?
He’s like the male Serena Williams."
Give it a watch: https://www.facebook.com/attn/videos/1489881317713989/
Shoutout: I am getting on stage in front of 800 people to give a piece o' my mind about "femvertising" October 25-27 in Colombus, OH. Join me?
4. FYI, "B2B buyers aren’t predictable, perfectly rational machines."
A new study from CEB details the importance of high emotional connection in B2B purchases. It's fascinating and counterintuitive to many marketers who focus on rational value messaging in lieu of promoting the emotional benefits of their products.
"While the data is surprising on the surface, on closer examination, high emotional connections make a lot of sense. When a consumer makes a bad choice (e.g., buying a tablet that they never use), the stakes are low–perhaps going through the inconvenience of returning the product or needing to justify the purchase to a partner. Business purchases, on the other hand, can involve huge amounts of risk: Responsibility for a multimillion-dollar CRM system that goes bad can lead to poor business performance and even the loss of a job. In fact, our data shows that B2B buyers perceive real risk when it comes to advocating on behalf of any one supplier. Business buyers won’t proceed unless there is sufficient emotional connection to overcome key risks."
Which, in many ways, makes it all the more impressive when a vendor can actually convince a buyer to not only buy, but advocate on their behalf.
H/T to my former advisor at Cintell, Ardath Albee, who pointed me to this article in the first place.
5. It's nearly 2018 and we're still hunting for customer empathy.
Speaking of Cintell, one of our most popular blog posts at the time, 2015, was "You May Be Surprised At the #1 B2B Marketing Responsibility of 2016."
In 2014, B2B marketers said their #1 job responsibility in two years would be "understanding buyers."
Well, 2016 has come and gone, and as we come crashing into the back half of 2017, CEB reports "the No. 1 priority for many senior marketing leaders in 2018 is improving customer understanding."
Huh. Everything changes in B2B, yet nothing changes at all.
The million dollar question here is:
Why is customer insight still operationally challenging for many organizations to get right?
Fundamentally, companies know they need to be experts at the empathic discipline of customer intelligence - and whether you choose persona-based marketing or Voice of Customer research or any of the other hundreds of tactics available to get at this insight, it's still something that evades marketers in practice.
Por que?
I think it's a combination of chaotic influences that prevent marketers from taking the time to get this right. Too many competing priorities, too many tools and tactics begging for our attention, with too much pressure to measure and perform.
And this stuff is like opening a can of worms. The threat of change looms in the distance when we go hunting for customer insight. Chances are, we're going to be wrong. Years of product-centric messaging tends to build up a kind of inertia that's hard to change.
Buyers will likely tell us something different than we believe internally. That will require shifting messaging, changing our strategy, and getting our entire marketing organization moving in a new direction.
Isn't it easier to just keep going in the same direction? To avoid rocking the boat?
That's why customer-centric marketing is truly radical. It may sound cliche and over-played in the track list of marketing industry narratives, but those who put it into practice are bold for a reason.
I'll get off my soap box, now.
6. I went to Brandathon! I wrote about it.
I had the opportunity to watch The Ad Club's most interesting event, Brandathon, this year.
Teams from some of the largest agencies in Boston donate their time and creative chutzpah to a bunch of promising startups. They give them a rebrand, including new logo, tagline, website design, and other customer experience touchpoints (from packaging to interactive experiences) all fo' free. You can read more about it here.
The winners get prizes, fame, and glory, the startups get some seriously good marketing help, and those of us in the audience get to listen to what it must feel like to have a multi-million dollar budget and listen to a bunch of agencies pitch us for their business.
7. In more infuriating sexism examples (like we need more.)
These Women Entrepreneurs Created A Fake Male Cofounder To Dodge Startup Sexism
Yes, really.
In many cases, the outside developers and graphic designers they enlisted to help often took a condescending tone over email. These collaborators, who were almost always male, were often short, slow to respond, and vaguely disrespectful in correspondence. In response to one request, a developer started an email with the words “Okay, girls…”
That’s when Gazin and Dwyer introduced a third cofounder: Keith Mann, an aptly named fictional character who could communicate with outsiders over email.
“It was like night and day,” says Dwyer. “It would take me days to get a response, but Keith could not only get a response and a status update, but also be asked if he wanted anything else or if there was anything else that Keith needed help with.”
8. Quote of the week "How to..."
"You need to stop asking Google questions about your life."
This quote comes from the younger sister of this author, who detailed Google's most-searched "how-to" questions.
how to tie a tie
how to kiss
how to get pregnant
how to lose weight
how to draw
how to make money
how to make pancakes
how to write a cover letter
how to make french toast
how to lose belly fat
As the author positions it... what a remarkable snapshot of the struggle of being human.
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Thanks for reading, as always.
Best,
Katie
www.katie-martell.com