#74: Google and ethical AI, the failure of marketing analytics, Lean Cuisine, Puerto Rico vs Roseanne, and more
Happy Saturday!
Are you feeling influenced? I'm on a list and that means I must share it. For that is the price of random recognition.
Top 2018 Influencers That Might Inspire Your Inner Marketer
These lists are often a bit silly, unless I'm on them, in which case they're 100% legitimate and a sign of my professional acumen and self-worth. I think my billable rate goes up now, too. Clients, take note.
Ok, for real, in this edition of The World's Best Newsletter:
1. Google and the ethical use of AI
2. Media coverage of Puerto Rico vs Roseanne
3. A broken promise in marketing analytics
4. My advice? F*ck everything up.
5. A 29-part rant for every startup founder
6. Where Did “It All” Go Wrong — Lean Cuisine’s Femvertising Campaign
7. Related: New Rules of Using Feminism In Marketing
8. Quote of the week - from Abby Wambach's Bernard graduation remarks
---
1. Google and the ethical use of AI
This NYTimes article articulates the identity crisis facing Google with the controversial nature of this DoD contract. Facing backlash from both employees and the general public, Google will not seek another contract for its controversial work providing artificial intelligence to the U.S. Department of Defense for analyzing drone footage after its current contract expires.
The company is also creating a set of ethical principles to guide development of military AI - including a ban on the development of AI weaponry.
This is a company taking steps to ensure its actions remain in line with its brand promise:
"Since the beginning, our goal has been to develop services that significantly improve the lives of as many people as possible. Not just for some. For everyone."
“It is incumbent on us to show leadership,” Diane Greene articulated. If this is legitimate (and not a PR stunt) then it is a great example of corporate social responsibility, counterintuitive in the aim of profit to the goal of something higher - loyalty/trust of consumers.
(...again, if it's not a PR stunt.)
---
2. Media coverage of Puerto Rico vs Roseanne
Media Matters reports cable news covered Roseanne for over 10 hours. They covered Hurricane Maria's death toll in Puerto Rico for just over 30 minutes.
The media coverage of the crisis in Puerto Rico has been dismal since the hurricane hit; even when outlets reported on major scandals about the mismanaged recovery, the coverage was negligible and faded quickly.
Vox explained “the ways the island and its people have been othered through racial and ethnic bias” and noted that “both online and broadcast media gave Puerto Rico much less coverage, at least initially, than the hurricanes that recently hit Texas and Florida.”
A Politico investigation found that “the Trump administration — and the president himself — responded far more aggressively to Texas than to Puerto Rico” in the wake of the hurricanes that devastated both. Trump tweeted just days after Hurricane Maria hit that Puerto Ricans “want everything to be done for them.”
Only half of Americans are aware that Puerto Ricans are in fact U.S. citizens.
America, this is not a good look. And it's an unfortunate indication of what we value as a country.
-----
3. A broken promise in marketing analytics
Firms have not seen any increase in how analytics contribute to company performance, but are nonetheless planning to increase spending so dramatically
In fact, companies are planning a whopping 198% increase in spending on marketing analytics DESPITE the fact that analytics are only moderately effective (rated as a 4.1 out of 7 - a score that was still at 3.8 five years ago.)
What's holding us back from being effective?
Authors of this HBR article, Carl F. Mela & Christine Moorman, describe this as "a paradox in two important analytics trends."
The first is the universal data challenge. "Data libraries often look like the proverbial cluttered closet, where it is hard to separate the insights from the junk."
The second is talent. "Only 1.9% of marketing leaders reported that their companies have the right talent to leverage marketing analytics. Good data analysts, like good data, are hard to find."
1.9%!?!?!? Holy sh*t.
---
4. My advice? F*ck up.
I was asked to give some advice to college graduates seeking a career in marketing or CX. Here's some:
Fail. Fail hard. Fail gracefully. Fail with purpose. Fail with bravery.
Fail because you tried something new – and it didn’t work.
Fail because you stepped out of your comfort zone, and made some missteps.
Fail because, despite your best effort to prepare and do things right, sometimes you simply can’t predict the future. (I know, shocking.)
Fail because it is truly the only way to learn — you not only understand how to fix the mistakes, you come to the critical realization that in business, failure is (most likely) not going to kill you.
And I hope that gives you immense confidence in your own resilience.
Read my full post in SmarterCX.
---
5. A 29-part rant for every startup founder
I believe this 29-part Twitter reflection is a must-read. A good reminder of the lessons learned throughout the company-building process from Josh Pigford, founder of Baremetrics. I can attest to each one from every startup gig I've had to-date.
Some gems:
21/ Don’t build solutions in search of a problem. Just because you had an idea doesn’t mean someone needs it. The mere existence of a solution doesn’t validate the existence of a problem.
19/ Talk to your customers. With words. Out of your mouth. Get on the phone with every single customer who signs up, upgrades, downgrades & cancels. Actually talk to them as humans do. It’s important to have a conversation as it gives you more honest insights in to what they did.
18/ Sell painkillers not vitamins. If you’re just a “nice-to-have” then the hole in the bucket will always leak faster than you can refill it.
17/ Sales solves all things. Almost any business problem you’re having is solved by selling more of your product. Not by making product improvements or getting company t-shirts and stickers, but by going out and making sales happen.
16/ Don’t lower prices, raise value. If your gut feeling is that you’re priced too high, then raise the value of your product to make it worth it. There’s essentially no ceiling on raising prices, but you’ll quickly find yourself hitting the floor compete on pricing.
14/ User action is much more relevant than user feedback. Feedback from users is great for understanding their line of thinking, but not great for understanding what they’ll actually do. Many times their actions don’t line up to their words. You need both to get the full picture.
13/ Don’t wait to charge. You’re not running a charity. Charge from day one.
11/ Ignore your competition. It’s so easy to fall in to the habit of checking up on what your competition is doing. But here’s the problem: doing this puts you perpetually one step behind. It makes you reactive instead of proactive.
7/ Maintain the power to walk away. Negotiating some business deal? Thinking of raising money? Always maintain the power to walk away. If you ever are in a position to critically needsomething, you’ll come out on the very bad end of that deal.
5/ “Busy” does not equal “productive”. You shouldn’t be doing 1,000 different things. Business isn’t that complicated. Very few things are urgent. Very few things actually even need to get done. As a founder, pick just 1 or 2 “must do” things each day.
----
6. Where Did “It All” Go Wrong — Lean Cuisine’s Femvertising Campaign
Low-fat frozen dinner brand Lean Cuisine launched a new campaign last week focused on the question of: “Can women can have it all?” Read my take on it.
This is a complicated topic, and one that this frozen-diet-food-brand may not equipped to become the stewards of.
Given that this brand centers on dieting, weight insecurity, and beauty standards, it’s an odd choice to choose empowering women in their campaign.
As Doug Kessler said:
"Whenever I’m worried or confused about my life, I turn to my processed food brands to help me navigate."
LOL
----
7. Related: New Rules of Using Feminism In Marketing
I had the chance to elevate my faux-feminism commentary to the pages of Chief Marketer Magazine. I'm so so grateful for this additional exposure and platform, as it's an important message.
"If we can’t hold organizations up to the scrutiny of genuine action, we shouldn't cheapen a movement by exploiting the narrative. It’s reckless and there are consequences. Our society deserves more. We can and must do better."
Read my piece: The New Rules of Using Feminism in Marketing
8. Quote of the week - from Abby Wambach's Bernard graduation remarks
Women. At this moment in history leadership is calling us to say:
GIVE ME THE EFFING BALL.
GIVE ME THE EFFING JOB.
GIVE ME THE SAME PAY THAT THE GUY NEXT TO ME GETS.
GIVE ME THE PROMOTION.
GIVE ME THE MICROPHONE.
GIVE ME THE OVAL OFFICE.
GIVE ME THE RESPECT I’VE EARNED AND GIVE IT TO MY WOLF PACK TOO.
Heck yes.
Have a marvelous weekend.
Katie
Website | LinkedIn | Twitter
PS: Share The World's Best Newsletter on Twitter, or LinkedIn (thank you!)
Summer marketing events:
Let's talk femvertising at the Chief Marketer event, Marketing to Women in the #MeToo Era, June 19th in NYC. Get your tickets here!
Boston Content Hackathon at FidelityLabs, June 20th in Boston. Almost sold out!
Who's going down at the #B2B Marketing and Sales Feud at #FlipMyFunnel 2018? (Can't we all just get along?) Come cheer me on! Details and promo code in this blog.