Tokio Hotel rocks my world!

If you don't know- NOW you know!
Tokio Hotel is coming to Houston
August 28 at the Verizon Wireless Theatre and I can't tell you how excited I am. I initially found them after watching episodes I missed of "America's Best Dance Crew" where I also fell in love with the Jabbawockeez.

Why you need to love Tokio Hotel...
The name - let's face it... It caught my eye because I absolutely love foreign music. At first I thought they were Japanese and from far away, Bill the lead singer had sort of a Harajuku image. Honestly, I wouldn't have given them a second glance on MTV's site if their name wasn't Tokio Hotel.

What they stand for -- or what I think they stand for...
It's SPECTACULAR that a band so young has written and created such deep music to inspire people. If you know me, I'm all for doing what you want to do in life and being happy. This group has done just that even before they became teens. Anyone with that much passion and ambition has to be given props. On top of that, they really do look like they enjoy what they do from watching their episodes on YouTube. They are original and obviously setting trends just by being themselves. No matter what anyone says, I truly believe that they stick to their guns to be who they are and not told who they need to be.

Music & Performances
Everyone knows, content is KING! What does that mean in this regard? Tokio Hotel's music, performances, videos, etc. is what rocks! The real reason why I fell in love with Tokio Hotel is watching their performance of Monsoon at the 2007 Europe Music Awards. From there, I bought their cd and love every song on there.

What does this have to do with marketing?
The long tail - I found out about Tokio Hotel through MTV while just bored and surfing through links. You can probably consider that editorial but I found them which is key. Being linked on various sites and being easily found is great and it works. It may take weeks or months but if someone finds you, it works.

YouTube videos - who wouldn't want a little insight to the band's life and lifestyle? Who wouldn't want to get to know the band a little more and feel like they are apart of the band's day to day life? The videos in general get a lot of response, comments, linking, etc. It seems so simple to do and it has quite a lasting effect. It's on YouTube so it is easily searchable, users can watch it over and over (I do), you'll find other videos from other users, it creates buzz, it's easily link-able or easily forwarded, it's free* promotion (which is important for those on a budget).

Viral - Many of their fans found out about the band from a friend. Needless to say having attractive band members didn't hurt them either. Viral campaigns are difficult to gauge since it may take a while to get there or it may be instant. When you're creating a "viral" campaign, you just never know what is going to take off and what is going to sink. From their YouTube episodes to their VIP site, selling their cd, etc., this group is big on promotions always remind their fans that they are there and they are where their fans want them to be. They take advantage of marketing to their fans every chance they get and boy do their fans love them. (I do.) Building that fan base that Tokio Hotel has is what every company wants.

Am I saying this is what your company should be doing too? ABSOLUTELY not! Every company is different and every business is different. You need to figure out who your audience is first and foremost and listen to what they want/need and see how you can provide that for them . That is what Tokio Hotel and their team has mastered (as far I as I see it). But like I said, everyone is different and you just need to figure it out. Try some things and see if it pans out and if not, try something else. The only thing I say you need to do is LOVE TOKIO HOTEL!



*Everyone knows there is no such thing as a free lunch and in this regard, it takes human resources, time and energy to create, edit, produce videos so consider that when you're reviewing your strategy.

What do you do again?

I get this question alot because no one really understands what I do.

Q: "What do you do?"
A: "I am the digital marketing specialist for chron.com."
Q: "What does that mean?"
A: "I help get the word out for whatever it is that needs to have the word out"
Q: "So what do you do?"
A: "I help promote chron.com and other sections of the site through various means like search engine marketing, email marketing, at events and such. That includes creating flyers, signage, promotional items, etc. That doesn't mean I actually create it but I work with a team that designs and creates these things with the direction I give them."

So, if you're a marketing person, you get that. If you're not... you really don't get it. Why is that? Why is marketing so difficult for people to understand? It's everywhere. It may not be an exact science when you're looking at results but down the line, its working somewhere. Someone told me, you just gotta be there when they need you. There's a saying out there...

"No marketing is like winking in the dark at a party. You know what you're doing but no one else does."

I love marketing. I love the fact that it allows me to be creative and think and dream and to help create these amazing campaigns. But, what do I do again? What's the objective of my position? I wonder sometimes if I'm the one that doesn't get it. Naw, that can't be it. ~_^ I'm just thinking too much. Where's the tequila bar?

Common Sense Spoils

I took my car to the dealership to get its usual maintenance and check up. Of course there was something wrong with it. My battery was dead and I didn't know why. Anyhow, I get sent to get a rental car. I asked for something small. I am a fast driver and I refuse to change for a large car (that and plus I refuse to pay extra for gas). I get in the small rental and drive to work. As I pull into the garage, I start feeling for the window buttons. I'm feeling around and I don't feel anything. OH MY FREAKING GAWD! There are NO BUTTONS! I quickly look down and there it is... a window crank. What in the world is that?

Do you know how long its been since I've even seen a window crank? I didn't think they existed anymore. Personally, I didn't think I was that spoiled. All the cars I had ever owned were hand me downs from my uncle, my cousin, my parents, etc. All the cars had automatic windows. I must have been lucky. Am I the only one to think that window cranks are from the caveman days? Who in the world still has a window crank?

A friend of mine thought this story was hilarious. Actually, what she found funny was that I didn't have automatic seat adjusters. My car has manual seat adjusters. My reasoning behind that is, it's faster for me to adjust my own seat versus waiting for the seat to move me to the correct spot. Automatic windows can pull up and down quicker than I can ever crank it open. Plus you don't have to reach across the passenger seat to pull down the window.

Another thing - the rental car didn't have automatic door locks. What is wrong with that? Even my old '89 Camry had automatic door locks. I think it is a safety issue.

So is it that I'm spoiled? I don't think so. I think it is just that the people who marketed automatic windows, automatic door locks and what have you did such a good job that I believe in my heart that I should never have to manually lock my door or crank a window ever again. When I went to buy my car, I specifically wanted automatic door locks and windows. It's not even a hard sell, just common sense.

Surprise it's MJ!

So I'm helping my sister at the family doughnut shop - D.Donuts in Pearland. If you ever go, the kolaches are the best and I'm totally addicted to the tacos and croissant sandwiches. She tells me the short stories of random customers who either don't care that she finally raised her prices (due to inflation of course) or tell her, tuff noogies which means I'm going somewhere else. I'm thinking... it's a business and we can't slowly die as a business if we can't cover our overhead. People should undesrstand that, right? Others were just thinking, what's another 5 or 10 cents? That's right... cents! They'll come back anyways. It's not like she increased prices 100%.

To my point - which makes for a really short blog... your hardcore customers won't care that you raise prices (it's called reality). They'll keep coming back for the quality of the food and the quality of the service. For those that are "bargain" shoppers - they will be back because we still have the one of the lowest prices in the area.

So the surprise? There was a pot of Mary Janes in the dumpster. Anyone up for a party? Maybe tomorrow?

Who in the world is Guy Kawasaki?

Does anybody know? Honestly, I had no idea until tonight and before tonight, I only knew bits and pieces from Dwight Silverman through email chains. Tonight, I went to check out Guy Kawasaki speak on the Art of the Start and that is when I confessed, in my head, that I would follow him... on Twitter. I've heard a lot of people speak in my short life and he is by far the most hilarious presenter. He seemed so real... must be the Cali in him but I could be wrong (I could be wrong???). In short, he looks like an Asian guy with a Hawaiin shirt that used to be an Apple Fellow, passed up the interview for Yahoo's first CEO and came up with Alltop.com. It's best to experience him in real life else you just don't get it.

So what can you learn if you didn't go to the event tonight? Here are some tips from Guy:

1. make meaning - what need are you fulfilling?
2. make mantra - why do you exist.... make a mantra instead of a mission
3. get going - polarize people --- if you get people to either love or hate your product, you'll have more success versus if you just make a site for everyone which makes your product mediocre and you'll have evangelists that will promote your site for free
   
4. define business model - be specific. KIS. Ask women before you go through with it (women don't have that natural tendency to "kill" everything).
5. weave a mat - milestones, assumptions, tasks; Milestones like "finish design", Assumptions like "how many sales/day", Tasks like "rent office"
6. niche thyself - think of a graph. the vertical axis is the ability to provide a unique product - horizontal axis is the value to customer -- you want to be up high and to the right
   
7. follow the 10/20/30 rule - 10 slides in 20 min with 30 point font
   
8. hire infected people (aka people with the same passion for what you are trying to do)
9. lower barrier to adoption - the plug it in and it should work mentality
   
10. seed the cloud - sales fixes everything
    
11. bonus point: don't listen to the bozos (the people who say you can't do it, the negative boobs)

Another reason why I've confessed to follow Guy, he admitted to being A.D.D. I'm so glad he is A.D.D. too, just like me and every other Jo Schmo out there. I've been known to be direct and sometimes misunderstood but I like to get things done in the shortest amount of time. Tell me fast and tell me true or CYA, I got other things to do.

The one thing I didn't ask him, which I am most curious about was how in the world does he keep his sanity? He seems extremely busy: father, husband, Alltop.com, garage, VCs, etc. How do you find time to do what you like (hockey) and have fun with your family all the while staying on top of twitter, blogging, speeches and whatever else is going on in the industry? What does your house look like???

Random - If I could afford a maid maybe my house wouldn't look like a tornado sucked it up and vomited.