DISQUS

Good luck Doug!

Sounds like a perfect fit for you. I've enjoyed the work you do in your spare time on this blog. Will be fun to see what it's like when it has all your attention.

Doug,

Glad you enjoyed the book. This is an awesome first step in assessing where you are at on the Tuned In spectrum. Thanks for sharing it. We're also looking at similar ways to assess how good we are at market sensing, creating products that solve real market problems and launching solutions that resonate with buyers. I look forward to sharing them with you and your community.

Phil, Craig and David

Adam,

Thanks for the kind words about Tuned In. It was the contributions made by thought leaders in the PM community like you that were largely the inspiration for writing the book. So many folks struggle with the principles you outline your Product Management manifesto that we wanted to put something in print that would serve as a best practices summary for any business leader. And it’s seeming like the intent of what we are trying to do is playing out. Sales are stellar and we've seen the comment “reading Tuned In has gpt me to thinking about situations that worked for me or didn’t and saying … so that’s why”. Couldn’t ask for more than that.

All the best,

Phil, Craig & David

Couldn't agree with you more Doug.

Somewhere along the way, marketing went from 'Big M' to 'Little M' in peoples minds. It equates really only to the promotional aspect with an emphasis on spin. We even still see this today in the political landscape where the job is to keep candidates 'on message'. All of which has seemed to have led to a generation of marketers that think inside-out and focus only on the level of their creativity to break through the clutter in communications. This has led to some huge frustrations with the business leaders we interviewed for our book on this front ... they view marketing as just a runaway cost center that doesn't contribute to the business very much and needs to be controlled.

You're hitting the problem straight on here. This definition of marketing was never what I learned the discipline ought to be. At it's essence, the job is more fundamental and important than most are making it ... it's a job of 'building real and deep connections to what buyers value most'. It starts with understanding their needs and preferences completely so that your company is actually working on building products people want to buy and then focuses on authentic ways of communicating why customers might be interested. Shouting 'buy my product' is useless (noone is listening anymore anyway) ... using social media and other forms of publishing content to establish connections is far more effective.

I'm fascinated by the number of communities that are developing freely around these kinds of things ... at times and places that we would have never thought of before in a marketing context. Thanks for your thoughts and your work here.

I love the quote Gary Player used to always offer about how to be successful in golf ... "have short memory". To be in politics is to have amnesia. How do you position around what seems like a mistake in hindsight? Very tough to do with credibility.

One of my recent blog posts was about the Authenticity Election so I realize how difficult it is to talk politics in a business blog. But the point is awfully compelling isn't it? Do you think its any coincidence that the two candidates that look like they'll be left standing (Obama and McCain) were authentic on this issue. They never changed positions even when it looked convenient to do so.

The rest of this stuff will get very clouded depending on your political mindset but I did find the above insightful and even a bit funny. I'm sure you could do the same on Repulicans but isn't that really what folks are getting tired of. Leadership isn't about taking a poll and making suring your current position will be popular with the most folks. It's about identifying real problems that exist and being committed to solving them.

Phil

Yes, the excitement of the new car has rubbed off. I remember when folks used to laugh at me for stopping and using that new foreign language I'd learned.

You've probably hit the core issue for them ... fad or a great launch at owning the 'morning out experience' that lost its way. Time will tell.

We see this all the time don't we? Great idea, breakthrough product and company, scales to take advantage of a hot brand ... and then starts expanding like crazy with add-on products and locations and begins to lose its core.

I'm still stopping by my Starbucks everyday but its lost a lot of its appeal along the way. I like that Shultz is back at the helm ... reminds of Jobs coming back into Apple ... it should bring them back closer to offering a cool experience. Social media connections are at least opening the doors in a new way.

My idea for them would be to listen carefully for the reasons why existing customers are no longer coming, others are going to McDonalds and why folks find it too much of a hassle to even consider. One thing I'd put right out there is they've got to stop nickle and diming the experience. I agree about the wireless hookup. Anyway, the answers are out there. Far too powerful a brand for them not to find a way to fix it.

Phil