Bumped into this old thinking from my MTV3 presentation... still valid. Sort of.
I claimed that competition in news business is unfair - in favor of UGC. Existing companies cannot survive as they are now.
UGC: no org, no cost structures, driven by personal interest, volunteering, looking constantly for new biz models, ultra local/ultra targeting, always someone in place, no obligation for neutrality/source critique, spreads like hell, expert on micro level, capability to adapt to constant extremization (is that a word) of content, language of the day, technical flexibility
New biz companies: Organizations/hierarchy, cost structures, job/salary/interest, working hours, fixed biz models, serving all, send a pro on site, responsibility for correctness, pro in macro level, journalistic principles dictate borders for content's groovyness, good language, IT systems...
This was 3 years ago, and now I feel that many news companies have taken the wrong pieces from UGC to compete in the world.
Random thoughts and things which would be nice to remember ... documented mainly for myself
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Handling customer complaints in style - the best marketing your money can buy?
We talked with Tero-Markus about recent personal and also common experiences with products and services. Earlier Pasi shared an Aussie blog post about how a particular Italian company handled customer's problem: http://www.groundswell.fi/sim/2013/04/10/this-is-how-you-create-advocates/
Tero-Markus made a brilliant observation and conclusion about the talks - in this age of digitally connected super fast social networks, the best marketing company can possibly buy/pay for is dealing with customer complaints in superb manner. Quality of course has to be in order (so that this will not become too expensive), but that must be the case anyway in constantly more competitive markets.
Every complaint is an opportunity to
1. anchor the customer's loyalty
2. get the most convincing voice and message to social networks about the trust worthiness of the brand
Would be interesting to see if the real marketing ROI would improve in many cases if (big) part of brand's advertising budgets would be moved to customer care/service companies instead of eg display advertsing.
This should also actually include other operations in the company. An example - we filed a patent to US via big patent firm having small "starting" operations in Finland. Not to go into further details, these guys have done pretty much everything totally wrong when thinking of the bigger picture for their company in Finland - just for the sake of few thousand €s they have done everything to assure that our personal professional networks will at least not hear anything good on working with them. Instead of considering our disagreements as sort of marketing chance offering a powerful tool to market eg outstanding customer orientation to other start-ups and professionals in bigger companies they chose to, well, twist and shout.
Taking also into account that every complaint is also a thread to loose the customer for ever and even worse make him/her as credible anti-advocate for your cause, this is really a no-brainer: investing in treating you customers superbly is money well spend in marketing.
Tero-Markus made a brilliant observation and conclusion about the talks - in this age of digitally connected super fast social networks, the best marketing company can possibly buy/pay for is dealing with customer complaints in superb manner. Quality of course has to be in order (so that this will not become too expensive), but that must be the case anyway in constantly more competitive markets.
Every complaint is an opportunity to
1. anchor the customer's loyalty
2. get the most convincing voice and message to social networks about the trust worthiness of the brand
Would be interesting to see if the real marketing ROI would improve in many cases if (big) part of brand's advertising budgets would be moved to customer care/service companies instead of eg display advertsing.
This should also actually include other operations in the company. An example - we filed a patent to US via big patent firm having small "starting" operations in Finland. Not to go into further details, these guys have done pretty much everything totally wrong when thinking of the bigger picture for their company in Finland - just for the sake of few thousand €s they have done everything to assure that our personal professional networks will at least not hear anything good on working with them. Instead of considering our disagreements as sort of marketing chance offering a powerful tool to market eg outstanding customer orientation to other start-ups and professionals in bigger companies they chose to, well, twist and shout.
Taking also into account that every complaint is also a thread to loose the customer for ever and even worse make him/her as credible anti-advocate for your cause, this is really a no-brainer: investing in treating you customers superbly is money well spend in marketing.
One big "Easter Island"... it is not real as long as it does not happen to you
International mining corporations and Government in Greenland are preparing for all the new land revealing itself from currently melting ice. That massive ice mass is melting.
The rest of the world is speculating that if - and increasingly now when - we keep this CO2 pace, the big ice masses will start melting.
It's not real as long as it does not happen to you. All our science, culture, wealth, light speed communication and access to about all information has not changed this. We are one big Easter Island.
The rest of the world is speculating that if - and increasingly now when - we keep this CO2 pace, the big ice masses will start melting.
It's not real as long as it does not happen to you. All our science, culture, wealth, light speed communication and access to about all information has not changed this. We are one big Easter Island.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
"Inaccountability" (not a word but does the job for me)
What is common with
Increasing amount of young and older people just bluntly dumping their garbage from their cars to the streets?
Massive amounts of garbage revealing itself under the melting snow everywhere?
People, even older ones nowadays, stopping to chat in doorways ignoring everybody else?
Too big amount of faults in buildings and houses a.k.a. the new default is complain to get what you bought?
Needing to get your car re-serviced after the service since there is something that didn't get fixed?
Endless meetings with no real decisions?
Or selling something with a "ageless quality" promise but failing to live accordingly?
Answer? Not being accountable individually of our actions to others and community/society.
We are loosing rapidly the sense of being accountable for all our actions to others. Besides the obligation we have also lost the value of accountability (being able to trust on other rational mutually benefitial behavior).
Based on everyday evidence, too many individuals have lost it already in way too many areas of life. Too few are teaching it to their children?
Companies are loosing it increasingly - in their operations and in their marketing. It's enough to just get things sold even if (when) it means empty value-phrases. And wow what an amount of empty corporate and brand value phrases we have nowadays. And it's not anymore even the golden age of corporate slogans... Big companies and brands can get away from their "lies" because we tend to not believe them anyways? But for small companies acting in a limited and competed market, value accountability is still a life-liner. Especially in this digitally socially connected era = fairly many people will hear an individual complain and peer-valuations weight a lot in plentifullness of everything.
With all out culture, science, high tech, education and "civilized ways" is still so that only massive crisis drive us accountable again? If so - depressive.
ps. as an after burn (from writing to Ville's blog) - could we as an ultra small nation have an edge if we would lift accountability back to it's old value?
Increasing amount of young and older people just bluntly dumping their garbage from their cars to the streets?
Massive amounts of garbage revealing itself under the melting snow everywhere?
People, even older ones nowadays, stopping to chat in doorways ignoring everybody else?
Too big amount of faults in buildings and houses a.k.a. the new default is complain to get what you bought?
Needing to get your car re-serviced after the service since there is something that didn't get fixed?
Endless meetings with no real decisions?
Or selling something with a "ageless quality" promise but failing to live accordingly?
Answer? Not being accountable individually of our actions to others and community/society.
We are loosing rapidly the sense of being accountable for all our actions to others. Besides the obligation we have also lost the value of accountability (being able to trust on other rational mutually benefitial behavior).
Based on everyday evidence, too many individuals have lost it already in way too many areas of life. Too few are teaching it to their children?
Companies are loosing it increasingly - in their operations and in their marketing. It's enough to just get things sold even if (when) it means empty value-phrases. And wow what an amount of empty corporate and brand value phrases we have nowadays. And it's not anymore even the golden age of corporate slogans... Big companies and brands can get away from their "lies" because we tend to not believe them anyways? But for small companies acting in a limited and competed market, value accountability is still a life-liner. Especially in this digitally socially connected era = fairly many people will hear an individual complain and peer-valuations weight a lot in plentifullness of everything.
With all out culture, science, high tech, education and "civilized ways" is still so that only massive crisis drive us accountable again? If so - depressive.
ps. as an after burn (from writing to Ville's blog) - could we as an ultra small nation have an edge if we would lift accountability back to it's old value?
Monday, April 15, 2013
Blogging...
I was given an opportunity to write to someone else's blog - Ville challenged me to write about personal professional "agony" regarding trying to start new businesses. Since Ville's blog is widely read and commented unlike my own, it force me to think about my motives for blogging. This blog really just exists to support my memory and it works well, surprisingly well. Some theoretical social pressure (I don't want to have a ghost blog) keeps me documenting my more or less random thoughts and experiences. Writing to another blog which is actually read is a totally different thing. Why would I do it? For begging attention? For marketing myself as an OK expert? I could not think one really good reason to write but "Why not?" won :)
Writing itself turned out to be be good thinking process. Reading comments and writing replies turned out to lead further into thinking. Nice. Thanks Ville!
Original story here: http://www.villetolvanen.com/2013/04/14/tuomo-sihvola-tappajan-vaistot-ilman-tappajan-sielua/
And the text to to be stored: "Killer's instinct with killer's soul."
Writing itself turned out to be be good thinking process. Reading comments and writing replies turned out to lead further into thinking. Nice. Thanks Ville!
Original story here: http://www.villetolvanen.com/2013/04/14/tuomo-sihvola-tappajan-vaistot-ilman-tappajan-sielua/
And the text to to be stored: "Killer's instinct with killer's soul."
Voisimmeko kompata toisiamme?
Tapasin Villen ja vaihdoimme kuulumisia. Keskustelut olivat ns. elossa, maailmaa syleileviä ja mukavasti vähän sieluakin tutkailevia. Eli siis innostavia kuten Villen kanssa aina. Kuitenkin lopuksi ilmaan jäi Villen toteamus: “Tuomo, kirjoita tuska ulos. Jos et kirjoita, minä kirjoitan sinusta. OK ilman nimeä mutta kuitenkin.”. Vaihtoehtoina ovat nyt siis joko kirjoittaa itse tai se, että Ville kirjoittaa jotain kohta viisikymppisen diplomi-insinöörin tuskan todellisista taustoista. “Turvallisuussyistä” valitsen ensimmäisen, koska uskon pystyväni uuttamaan tuskasta mielestäni pari ihan relevanttia kysymystä. Nämä lopuksi, mutta ensin tuska pois ja taustaksi kuten Ville kehotti.
Olemme viimeisen vuoden rakentaneet ja koestaneet kolmen hengen porukalla mainonnan tarvelähtöiseksi kääntävää, harrastuksiin keskittyvää sisältöpalvelua, jonka kauniina ajatuksena on tukea erityisesti kivijalan kauppojen markkinointia verkossa. “Kolmen hengen porukalla. Just.” kuluu tänne asti viitsineiden päässä. Haastettahan tuossa olisi ollut ns. riittävästi hieman isommallekin yritykselle, mutta sydän nyt vaan sanoi, että yritetään nyt. Ei lähtenyt. Aiemmin olen ollut yrittämässä kahden hengen voimin saada alkuun vanhusten, yksin työskentelijöiden ja luonnossa yksin liikkujien paikkatiedon lähettävän hälytysrannekkeen kehittämistä. Novelty ja markkina sille tunnustettiin, mutta ns. instanssien rahat olivat jo kiinni vanhan lähestymistavan iteraatioissa. Nyt sen kaltaisen tuotteen näköjään juuri toi markkinoille The Civil Rights Defenders (CRD) -ryhmä – keskeinen oivallus siitä miten vältetään turha akun virran syöminen on sama.
Tämän tiedän kuulostavan todella pollevalta, mutta nykyisen Androidin kaikin puolin aika lailla yksi yhteen kaltainen käyttökokemus ja -liittymä ideoitiin neljän hengen tiimillä vuonna 2005 WidSets nimisessä mobiili-palvelussa. Markkinoille palvelu saatiin aivan loistavalla laajennetulla tiimillä Java sovelluksena kaikille puhelimille. Palvelusta olisi tullut suoraan myös melkoisen etulinjan mobiilikäyttöliittymä applikaatioineen, applikaatiokauppoineen ja push notifikaatioineen. Suht’ merkittävästä käyttäjäkunnasta huolimatta Nokialla ei ollut tarvetta (tilaa) palvelulle eikä myöskään nälkää hakea silloin mahtavan Nokian S60:n tilalle mitään.
Tunnustan julkisesti jomotuksen olevan edelleen niin paha, että on pakko todeta jääneensä jossain määrin menneeseen kiinni. Suurin piirtein samaisella pienellä ydinjoukolla työstimme ennen WidSetsiä älypuhelimen kaveriksi iPODin “tappajaa”. Ei tullut konseptista tappajaa mutta kuollut kyllä, viime metreillä. Aiheesta eli ei jomota erityisesti ja monenlaista oppia tuli roppakaupalla. 2008 yritimme kaverin kanssa aloittaa klassisen musiikin pelastamisen Internetissä nykyisestä (anteeksi) kevyen musiikin ehdoilla tehdystä kaaoksesta. Laajasti esiteltiin ideaa ja keskusteltiin sekä todettiin se tarpeelliseksi kaikkien mielestä. Mutta ei se sitten ollut kenellekään riittävän tarpeellinen. Paitsi edelleen klassisen musiikin kuuntelijoille – siinä muuten olisi edelleenkin niin makoisa hedelmä poimittavaksi. Ja juu, olisi siinä markkina – maksukykyisiä ja oikeasti maksuhaluisia ihmisiä, jotka olisivat valmiita mm. ostamaan samat kappaleet moneen kertaan eri esityksinä jos vaan löytäisivät niitä ja ovat valmiita kuuntelemaan kappaleet livenä muidenkin kuin alkuperäisesittäjien versioina. Selvästi kova jomotus päällä tästä.
Tuskat summaten totean, että aika paljon erilaisia ideoita on tullut yritettyä ja aina epäonnistuttua. Syy on ollut ilman muuta omissa puutteissa ja väärissä tavoissa toimia sekä ajoituksessa. Ja ei voi muuta kuin vain todeta kaiken evidenssin osoittavan, että en ole ajatuksen jonkin asteisesta lentämisestä ja kokemuksestani huolimatta oikea ihminen yrittämään. Tämä on tuskallista myöntää.
Erittäin hyvä ystäväni, ympäri maailmaa töissä kiertänyt, mielestäni vähintäänkin vahvasti nerahtava Väisäsen Pasi totesi ongelman olevan siinä, että meissä molemmissa on annos tappajan vaistoa muttei tappajan sielua. Ostan tämän ajatuksen. Itse asiassa tunnen ison nivaskan kavereita, jotka niputtaisin samaan luokitukseen. Osuvia oivalluksia ja ideoita piisaa, esiintyäkin ja myydäkin osataan, mutta se kyky sekä halu “tappaa” puuttuu. Me tarvitsisimme mukaan niitä “tappajia” jotka vievät homman muodossa tai toisessa läpi ulkopuolisen epäuskon suon.
Nyt niitä kysymyksiä…
Onko niin, että pienen kokomme ja kansanluonteemme takia juuri meillä Suomessa ideoitten ja niiden läpi runnomiseen tarvittavien “tappajan sieluisten” suhdeluku ei ole kohdallaan? Jos näin, niin voisimmeko pärjätä paremmin uuden keksimisen ja tuotteistamisen markkinoilla, jos etsisimme myös aidosti uudenlaisia tapoja toimia uuden liiketoiminnan etsimisen alkuvaiheissa, emmekä pelkästään kopioisi toimintamallia muualta? Voisimmeko saada kilpailuetua, jos myös monenlaista kokeneille mutta “nimettömille” tekijöille olisi olemassa yrittämisen ilmasto, missä et lähtökohtaisesti ole DOA liiketoiminta-ideoitten kanssa?
(Isossa) Maailmassa itse ideoilla todellakin on arvoa, näin uskon. Maassa, jossa uskon olevan liian vähän “tappajan sieluisia” ja kauniisti sanoen tietynlainen ilmapiiri suhteessa ideoihin, “pelkkä tiimi ratkaisee – ideoilla ei ole mitään väliä“-messu rasittaa, ei rakenna. “Ihan hyvä idea mutta onko teillä todisteita, että pystytte eksekuuttaamaan?”-messu on ymmärrettävä, mutta ei rakentava.
Tehdään yhdessä enemmän toisiamme kompaten ja vähemmän kampaten kiinnostavia juttuja eteenpäin,
Tuomo
ps. Samsung rekrytoi parhaillaan Suomeen seuraavasti: “The main purpose of the Outsourcing function is to identify and recommend new innovations for next generation mobile phones and tablets. The key function of the role is to ensure that Samsung Mobile secures innovative new mobile technologies from Europe prior to its competitors.” Niin, kai se “tappajan sielu” voi olla yrityskin? Mutta kun sitä vaan jostain itsesuojeluvaisto syistä haluaisi, että sitä innovaatiota oikeasti skautattaisiin tänne prior to foreign competitors…
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Riku Rantala... the art of raising alternative views without lecturing
Riku has the talent to open alternative views for mummifying minds without lecturing.
Legal cocaine....
Vedin laillista valkoista viivaa :) I had +60km legal white line... My kite tracks on Alvajärvi untouched surface might make Pihtpudas grandma wonder if Mr. Af Grahn was right after all...
Fantastic world class stuff ....
UMO.
Just wished my head would have a cam implant to go it over again.... and for double album since Tuomo seems to have quite a bit stuff in drawer.
Revonet...
"Joka puolella leviää uuden elämän juuria ilman mitään yhtenäistä suunnitelmaa, ne liikkuvat ja verkostoituvat, ne pitävät energian virtaamassa, ne odottavat kevättä. Sillä nämä solmut liittyvät aina yhteen. Ne solmivat yhteen paikalliset ja maailmanlaajuiset internet-verkostot, ne solmivat yhteen henkilökohtaiset verkostot, ne väreilevät uudenlaisen vallankumouksen sydämenlyöntien tahdissa, vallankumouksen, jonka vallankumouksellisin teko on se, että se on itse luonut itsensä."
Basso Radio.... bless you
Bless you Basso radio http://www.basso.fi/radio/ for enriching my (popular) music life year after year.
Power of differentiation build into genes?
Funny how ~all the other stations compete by playing basically the same songs and artists (with nominal variations really) and just plainly claiming that they are "Fresh" or "Interesting" with nothingtosayreally DJ's full of only themselves.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Control or starve...
Investments for "speculations for food price" was 13 Billion USD in 2003, five years later the value was 317 Billion USD. Self full-filling prophecies for rising food price creating intolerable food prices - way to go!
Corn goes to making fuel, so that it's cheaper to feed pigs with candy in US than with corn... way to go!
Somehow it seems that we might have forgotten food, clean water and air are the only things we really need?
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