"It's Not Digital, It Just Is"

Even though a lot of the videos that I post here are long, they don't have to be in order to give you some good things to think about. For example, this three minute video features a compilation of marketing experts from the recent Association of Online Publishers Summit in London who weigh in on what they believe to be the key shifts and trends in the marketing world. It's an interesting overview of opinions, with a couple that really jumped out at me.

Clay Shirky, author of Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, points out that "Trying small things at a large scale works much better than trying large things at a small scale," while Procter & Gamble's Head of Interactive Marketing Emma Jenkins adds, "We're talking a lot about digital, but there are generations out there where, it's not digital, it just is."

Well said.

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How To Make Your Ideas Stick

Do you ever wonder what makes some ideas "stick" better than others? If so, then you should definitely check out this video featuring author Chip Heath discussing his latest book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. I've read Heath's book and it's a great breakdown of how to effectively communicate your ideas, particularly for marketers whose entire campaigns can hinge on their ability to express a basic core idea.

In his talk, Heath explains how the most effective ideas are simple, the importance of "finding the lead" for your idea, and how to truly make your ideas (whatever they may be) stick with your audience.

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5 Things Worth The Time It Takes To Read Them

Here's some things that recently caught my eye...

1. The web's Top 10 Breakout Video Stars of 2008. (NewTeeVee)

2. New business models look weird, act weird, and are weird because they're new. (Twist Image)

3. An interesting profile of Tim Cook, the man most likely to replace Steve Jobs at Apple one of these days. (Fortune)

4. Demand Media's new business model - curated social content - seems pretty smart to me. (Web Strategy by Jeremiah)

5. Do you know why you're using Twitter? You should. (TwiTip)

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Seth Godin Explains Why The Riskiest Thing You Can Do Is Be Safe

Today's video clip features popular marketing speaker and author Seth Godin explaining why "ideas that spread, win." This presentation, taped at the 2003 TED conference, revolves around Godin's belief that in a world where people are faced with more choices and less time than ever before it's important to create and market products that are "worth making a remark about." And, as an added kicker, it doesn't really matter whether that remark is good or bad.

Specifically, Godin uses real world examples ranging from sliced bread to Aeron chairs to demonstrate why the riskiest thing any company can do now is be safe. Instead of the traditional process of pushing average goods to average people, he urges marketers to target the smaller market of people who are obsessed about something. Also interesting is Godin's explanation that no matter what business you're in, we're all now in the fashion business. Who knew?

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The Secret Behind The Success Of "Stuff White People Like"

It may already seem like old news, but it was less than a year ago that the blog Stuff White People Like magically appeared on the Internet and became a huge web sensation. The site, which launched in February and landed its author Christian Lander a book deal a couple months later, was a true viral web phenomenon...but how did that actually happen?

This video clip features Lander at an appearance he made at Google to discuss the origin of his site, how it found such a huge audience ("it was completely word of mouth"), and what happened after he got his book deal ("Suddenly, a legion of people hated me").

NOTE: The video is 48 minutes long, but Lander's speech really only lasts about 20 minutes - the rest is a reading from his book and Q&A with the Googlers in attendance.

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