

Speak Human - karjaluoto
http://www.youtube.com/speakhumanbook

======
huhtenberg
Yeah, Buckley's... riiight.

Good ads, but they feel forced. As if someone in the marketing dept. said
"let's not add any sweeteners, let them have Paracetamol (or what have you) as
is and then build whole marketing pitch around its awful taste". Pretty much
like someone trying to mass market a car without an A/C. Brilliant marketing
plan, it gets noticed, everyone is going like "WTF ... what am I missing
here?", but in the end when someone chooses between a handful of products, the
awful tasting one won't be in the first place. I know that I personally never
bought Buckley's and not likely to.

~~~
karjaluoto
I don't entirely disagree with you. I'm not quick to reach for Buckley's
(which is of course the point of the marketing), but my suspicion is that a
lot of people do. Additionally, many people talk about them, which is a harder
thing to achieve than most believe.

The thing that I think we have to take away from Buckley's marketing is that
without that approach, they'd have a bad tasting cough medicine. Admitting
that it tastes bad, on the other hand, leads us to ask, "how good does it have
to be, in order for them to admit that?"

On the other hand, there are dozens of other brands of cough medicine out
there, and I'm hard pressed to remember the names (or stories behind) any of
them.

~~~
huhtenberg
> _there are dozens of other brands of cough medicine out there, and I'm hard
> pressed to remember the names (or stories behind) any of them._

There's no need to remember that, they are all made from the same ingredients.
Just pick the first cocktail that matches your symptoms, and that's it.

~~~
karjaluoto
That's how we should make our choices, but (sadly) most of us aren't that
clear headed when we buy. The purchases we make are informed by how certain
brands resonate with us.

You could argue me this point, but I'd only ask when you last ordered a cola
that wasn't a Pepsi or a Coke. The fact is, brands are powerful.

------
karjaluoto
Not so long ago (last November) I released my book Speak Human: Outmarket the
Big Guys by Getting Personal. In it I look at how small can be an advantage,
and how small companies can market more effectively. So far the reviews have
been really strong, and I've been receiving notes from readers saying that
they've found it helpful.

In an effort to introduce the book to a wider audience, I started creating
these brief 2 minute videos, which discuss notions presented in the book. If
you have a moment (or, preferably, 2) this might be worth a look. :-)

~~~
jellisjapan
Are these 2 minute videos a way of marketing your book differently like you
discuss in this particular video? (no sarcasm here, I'm generally curious on
how you've been using this advice to market your own book :) )

~~~
karjaluoto
The videos are largely an experiment. Our blog (ideasonideas) gets a fair bit
of traffic, but it's more centered around the design community. As such, we
wanted to try another venue to present the ideas in the book.

I've gone into more detail on the marketing of the book (if you're interested)
in this post: [http://www.ideasonideas.com/2009/12/my-money-where-my-
mouth-...](http://www.ideasonideas.com/2009/12/my-money-where-my-mouth-is).
It's really a big test: put out a good product, share it, and explore what
methods resonate (and adapt when things don't work). I suppose it's like
"agile" marketing. ;-)

Although the videos aren't wildly "different," I believe the message of the
book largely is. In my opinion, many of the marketing texts and resources out
there are big on promises but perhaps deliver more checklists than methods.
This book is really more concentrated on looking at how small operations can
really market themselves--and how things like social media can make that
easier.

I realize that I've typed a fair bit here, and I'm not sure if I've answered
your question. Does the above make sense?

