Ethics of Insights

Admittedly, the topic of personal digital privacy is not one that I have thought a lot about. I think my initial thought was that, as a soon to be marketing professional, I do not have a huge problem with collecting data about customers to help target them better and create better products and services. Although, I now realize that that is an overly idealistic view that that is all that this data is used for.

For the most part, the idea that companies like Google and Apple collect data, that is used to create and improve products and services that help me does not necessarily bother me. Since I am going into a career in marketing, though, I think my view is already a little skewed in that I let more slide because I understand that it is helping out a fellow marketer. However, the more I read and think through the potential future downfalls, I think it is an issue I should be more concerned about.

On the surface, my usual thought is that if I were doing anything that I would not want these data collectors to see, I should not be doing it. And since that is not a problem, then I do not mind them collecting data on me. I do not generally think about that data be stolen or shared with the wrong people. While I do not necessarily mind my name being tied to any of this information, I do worry about sensitive financial information being accessed from anything they obtain.  

I recently saw an American Express commercial that asks customers to link their American Express card to Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare in order to receive deals for places nearby. I did a little search for the program and found several blog posts from people that are praising the idea. It seems to me that people are a little blinded by anything containing the word deal or savings lately. I think this is an area where I would draw a line. I would personally be a little wary of linking something involving my money with social media. Particularly after reading in the Wall Street Journal article about how much personal information can be obtained from our social media accounts.

Now that I’ve started to think deeper about this topic and after reading these articles for class, I decided I should look up Google’s privacy policy since I admittedly have never read it. At first look, I think one primary reason that I have not read it yet, along with all other privacy policies for sites like Facebook and Twitter, is because it is really long. I generally do not have time to go through the entire policy and to understand what hidden implications are meant by what they say.

Under “Information we share,” Google claims that they share personal information with companies outside of Google when they have customer’s consent and that they require “opt-in” consent for sharing sensitive information. However, I don’t recall ever being asked by Google for my consent. I consider myself to be fairly alert to privacy questions, although it is entirely possible that they slipped it by me.

Facebook has another annoying privacy policy and is known for taking data collection to the limits. While I find all of the automatic wall posts annoying, I think Facebook is doing more to hurt their image than violating privacy. Where do we draw the line between a nuisance and what’s harmful? If consumers don’t speak up, companies will continue to push the line. But, for the time being at least, I don’t think anyone would be willing to give up their Facebook or Google accounts just to make a statement.

In some respect, I think the fact that these companies take the time to layout such extensive privacy policies drives consumers to trust that they are being honest and transparent. But as the WSJ article on Apple, Google Collect User Data suggests, are collecting and distributing highly identifiable, non-aggregated information.

It seems to me that the responsibility is on us as marketers to be much more critical of the companies that provide consumer data. If marketers keep asking/looking for this sort of unqualified, unsecured data, these companies will go to great lengths to continue pushing the limits of consumer privacy. 

Creativity and Innovation

1.  What are your personal experiences with individual creativity?  Have you had times when you felt especially creative or, even, especially uncreative?

2.  What are your personal experiences with organizational creativity?  Have you worked at companies that felt or behaved in ways that made them more creative or, even, especially uncreative?

3.  Do you think you, as an individual, are even capable of being creative by yourself?  And, better yet, do you think a group within an organization is capable of being creative?  

Despite having worked in several creative industries, luxury goods public relations, event planning, and publishing, I rarely considered myself to be particularly creative. Instead, I consider myself to be much more practical and logical, which is part of the reason I thought I would do well in business school. Ironically, several of my business school applications included questions about my personal creativity, either requesting me to submit a piece of artwork I’d created specifically for the application or to write an essay talking about how I have come up with creative solutions or ideas in my previous jobs. This process forced me to think differently about my own creativity and realize that perhaps part of my success

Before coming to business school, I worked for HarperCollins Publishers, developing the first in-house speakers bureau for the industry. The fact that there was no model for our business made everything I did seem creative in a way. From developing marketing and promotions for our authors to coming up with creative ways to convince authors and customers to do business with us, my job required a lot of innovative thinking.

I think the pressure on the publishing industry forced the company as a whole to encourage creativity. The speakers bureau that I worked in, was a result of an initiative started by the then CEO. She reached out to every employee in the company to suggest ways to innovate the traditional publishing model and come up with new ways to bring in revenue. I think this open door policy and encouragement supported creativity in the organization.

Just before I left the company, they started to remodel the workspace one floor at a time to encourage creativity, collaboration, and transparency. Based on the Google model, they removed all cubicles and offices so that employees, including department heads, were working side by side without walls.  All meeting and conference rooms were designed with glass doors and walls. The idea was that transparency and the ability share ideas immediately, promote creativity. Many of my co-workers feared having to work in that kind of environment. My floor was temporarily re-located to an area without cubicles and everyone shut down, most people turned solely to email communication and rarely picked up the phone to have a direct conversation. So, I think that that sort of openness only works in certain situations and sometimes that kind of environment can be distracting.

I do think that people can be creative individually, but personally, I find the sounding board of a team to be helpful. I think that everyone works differently. As I mentioned in my previous work experience, sometimes too much collaboration can be stifling and too many voices are sometimes distracting when you are trying to form your own thoughts to contribute.

4.  What do you think about this article and the way this author describes different creative types of problems and, thus, different creative processes?  Should we trust ourselves just to know or sense when we need one type of approach versus another?

I think the article, How To Be Creative, makes some good points about creativity in different situations. For someone that doesn’t think she’s naturally very creative, it’s comforting to know that there are things I can do to foster creativity. One thing I agree with is the idea that seeking diverse experiences aids in creativity. Prior to business school, I worked in two different industries, fashion and publishing, and am now moving into technology. Part of my pitch or elevator speech, has been that my ability to adapt to these diverse industries and experiences is an advantage. Perhaps part of that advantage is the influence on my creative abilities.

I also think that I was more creative as a child than I am now, that maybe my logical thinking gets in the way of my creativity now. So, it makes complete sense to me that thinking like a child would help with creative thinking.  

One creativity hack that I might add is the pressure of a time constraint. I find that I am more creative when I am under time pressure or working under a short deadline. One hindrance for me with creativity is that I tend to over-think things, but with a time constraint, I don’t have time to waste on over-analyzing every thought and this allows more free-flow of ideas.

The one thing I do not necessarily agree with is the over-simplification of the processes. The article assumes that most people are exceptionally self-aware and can judge whether they need to take a step back or keep pushing and idea forward. I also think that in business situations, you don’t always have time to take a break so that is not always a viable solution. 

Paper Topic

Cause marketing, social responsibility, these seem to be the trendy buzz words these days.

According to a Cone Communications Study, consumers are showing increased willingness to switch to brands that support a cause. In addition, consumers are expecting companies to stand for something

For this project I plan to look into what the drivers are for customers when it comes to products and companies associated with a cause. How involved are the customers in the actual cause? Does it matter whether the cause is personally relevant to the customer or even related to the product/company? At this point, I am still working on focusing my topic, so this blog will be more of a sounding board to get my thoughts out on paper.

I will look at companies that use cause marketing to drive sales and branding as well as companies that use it as a business model. I thought it would be interesting to compare companies like Toms, Sweet Riot, and TRU2U that use cause marketing as a business model versus well-branded companies that are starting to integrate causes into their brand image.

Aside from a general interest in socially responsible companies, I have a personal interest in supporting TRU2U. TRU2U is a new socially conscious apparel brand that seeks to build awareness amongst consumers about fair labor practices and furthermore to create a dialogue about social issues surrounding the products we as consumers purchase regularly. The company takes the Toms business model a step further to involve the consumers in a discussion, it’s not about what’s right or wrong, it’s about understand the whole issue and the trade-offs involved.

The connection between understanding the value of cause marketing/social consciousness in companies and customer insights, as I see it, is the involvement of the customer in the experience. Does a cause lead to more customer involvement, does this ultimately build a deeper trust in the brand? Is it important that consumers are involved in the entire process? I think understanding why customers are choosing companies and products that support a cause will help companies more effectively choose which causes to support and better communicate their message.

Not surprisingly considering the trend, there is no shortage of articles discussing cause marketing recently. Many of them site a study from Cone Communications that ended up going to directly for the best information. The Cone CauseEvolution Study reports findings regarding consumer attitudes towards company support for social and environment issues. The study reports that 90% of consumers want companies to tell them what they are doing to support issues. It goes on to discuss consumer’s feelings towards brands related to a cause and purchase behavior for those brands versus other brands. Target consumer segments include Moms and millenials, since moms control a majority of household purchases and millenials have billions in discretionary income to spend. The report also lists the top issues consumers think companies should address as well as which industries they most expect to support causes which include food and beverage, automotive, and manufacturing. The study concludes with a report on how employees feel about the companies they work for supporting causes.

  

One article I read on Inc.com also brings up a good point about companies that use cause marketing poorly. It says that if consumers discover any misstep or insincerity behind a company’s cause, they will drop them. The problem is that many consumers are usually not well informed on the issues that they claim to support. TRU2U aims to change that attitude in customers. Their platform is to inform college consumers about fair labor issues, and what they entails in a global sense. While so many Americans may be quick to point out unfair working conditions, they’re looking at the issue often times from a very ethnocentric perspective. TRU2U wants to differentiate their products by teaching life skills, educating, and training college students on these issues through transparent marketing. There is a big grey area when it comes to social responsibility, it’s not cut and dry. So I think it will be interesting to discuss how this new focus on cause marketing will change consumer involvement in product development.

Gathering Qualitative Insights from Social Media Use

What information would you try to elicit from social media use?

How would you get at that information in a way that would be most accurate and telling?

As social media becomes more popular and acceptable, I think people have become more comfortable being honest and open in sharing information about themselves, for better or worse. For this reason, and particularly since I have a background in social psychology, I think social media is an interesting new source to observe human behavior. A company looking to gather information about a customer based on social media use, can look at several things, including which communities he belongs to, in which of these communities is he really active, what is he talking about, what is he posting/reposting/retweeting, who does he follow, who follows him. In addition, you can learn something very different from each social media site; they all have very specific purposes, and people portray different parts of their character on each site.

I think you can also see clear generational differences in social media use. Whereas social media has become second nature for my generation, we will try anything, but older generations are playing catch up. For example Michael, the persona I discussed in Blog 1, is a baby boomer, he did not grow up in a world with social media, so it isn’t second nature to him. At first, he was against it, he could not understand why this young generation was so comfortable sharing their lives and activities with the world, he wasn’t as trusting. Despite this, he has jumped on the bandwagon and has joined LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Even the most skeptical people are learning the value in social media.

So, using Michael as an example, I will talk about some specific insights you can gather about a customer. By looking at which communities Michael has joined, you can gather base level insights into what he finds important and interesting. He joined LinkedIn first, years ago, but did not consider this to be social media. I would infer from his involvement on LinkedIn that professional networking is important. He joined Facebook three years ago and is a fairly active poster for someone his generation. He also recently joined Twitter, but has yet to post anything; he can’t quick figure out what is the purpose of this community. I think from this you can see that he is trying hard to keep up with technology, but still doesn’t fully get it. I think it is important to understand that every social media community is unique and that the aspects of person’s life he chooses to share in each community is very different.

LinkedIn is a professional networking community, so you can obviously find many insights about the professional side of Michael on this site. From his education, certifications, jobs, qualifications, connections, you can learn a lot about his background. One great aspect about LinkedIn, in terms of gaining insights, are the recommendations, you can see what others are saying about Michael. Many people find him to be reliable, trustworthy, and honest. This is obviously in a professional context, but characteristics like these relate to him in a general context, this tells us something more than what he does, but how he behaves and what he values. I think LinkedIn is an underestimated source of information and insights, and because people are generally concerned with their reputation more so on LinkedIn than elsewhere, it can be a great source to interact with consumers and get honest opinions.

On Facebook, you see a little more about Michael’s personal life. By looking on the “about” page, we easily see a broad list of interests that he passively follows, his primary interests are books, TV, and photography. Since Michael is wary of social media, he keeps a tight lock on his privacy settings, allowing only friends to see the full content. So assuming we can see into his page, we can gather deeper insights by looking at the active content on his page, what he’s posting about, commenting on, and with whom he is communicating. He’s a football and baseball fan, he only posts about these two sports during the seasons, that doesn’t mean he’s not a fan of other sports, but he’s loyal to his teams in these sports. He’s passionate about politics and will not only post opinions on his own page but engages on his friends’ pages as well.

Although Michael joined Twitter about a year ago, he has yet to post anything. So you can see that he tries to keep up, but perhaps doesn’t have the time to commit to multiple communities.

Based on some of our discussion the other day, another way to get at deeper insights in a more accurate way, beyond merely observing social media behavior, might be to have a conversation about social media use. Ask a customer to explain or tell a story about his typical daily social media activity. This would allow a deeper understanding of why he uses specific sites, who his audience is, what motivates him to post or respond to certain things, and even why he joined certain communities in the first place.  

We also talked in class about distinguishing between active and passive engagement in social media and I think that is a very important distinction. Many companies using social media to connect with customers focus heavily on numbers, how many followers, how many likes, but I think more meaningful insights can be gathered by taking the time to look in to active engagement. It is easy to hit a like button and forget about it a minute later, but for someone to take the time to comment, whether on a brand, product, or idea, shows that they have put in more thought and commitment into that brand.

A final word of warning, and sort of side note, to end this blog post - I do think companies need to be careful about how much they listen to people in social media communities. On Facebook specifically, people have gotten used to voicing their opinions on anything and everything and are not afraid to tell a company when they’ve done something wrong. Some people just want to be heard and acknowledged, but others are looking to get something out of it. Since several companies have started publicizing how well they have compensated social complainers in order to protect their reputation, there has become a culture of “me too” in social media. Not every follower is a customer you want or need, but it is important to engage with these complainers to understand their motivation.

Creating a Persona using an Empathy Map

Michael 

Michael is an aging white male, baby boomer. At 62, he is on the cusp of becoming a senior citizen. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, he has lived in various parts of the country and has traveled extensively internationally throughout his lifetime. He currently lives with his wife in New Jersey, closer to some of their family.

Michael has had a long, successful career in senior management with large, Fortune 500 corporations, but also has a strong background in entrepreneurial roles, has opened businesses, launched brands, and opened international offices. He is currently faced with the hard reality of the same economic concerns that many Americans are at the moment.    

1. What does he think and feel? What really counts? Major preoccupations? Worries & aspirations?

What’s important to him in life are his family and friends, those are the only real things of value to him, everything else is material. While he enjoys material things, he does not value them the same way.

Although he’s been through many successes in his career, the current general economic climate worries him. In particular, the job and housing markets, and the decline in equity in his house, because this limits the disposable income he has available. He is preoccupied with earning a living to pay the bills. While, at this stage in his life, retirement is on his mind, he is concerned with being financially stable enough to do so. For this reason, he is taking a risk to launch a new business. While all of his businesses up to this point in his life have been driven by profits, his current venture is driven by a lifelong interest in social values that resonates more with him. It is what drives him to continue working hard.

He is interested in what is happening with the economy as well as what’s happening with international politics. Having grown up in the 60s and 70s, he is vibrantly opinionated and active in political decisions, but is concerned that the younger generations do not have an understanding of the importance of keeping informed and having a voice in their own future.  

2. What does he see? Environment? Friends? What the market offers?

He sees a world that needs to be more concerned about social issues and sustainability. For him, that means he’s looking for ways to buy more earth friendly products. In the environment, he sees a world that is changing and needs to be addressed. He sees a world where people need to be more conscious of their environmental footprint.

What he sees in his friends is a reflection of his values; that is why they are his friends. At this stage, he sees his friends in transition; transitioning into being senior citizens. They are no longer talking about getting old, they are now old, and that is not a bad thing. With that, he enjoys watching his friends add a new stage to their lives. He enjoys seeing his friends watch their kids grow as he does with his own two children. He loves watching the generations continue as his children and friend’s children begin to have kids of their own.

He sees that the market is evolving at a much faster pace than ever. His age group is no longer the market emphasis. The baby boomers are no longer the biggest consumers. Where just ten years ago, the market targeted his generation, he now sees that the market is addressing youth much more with things like social media. The market is offering products at an accelerating pace for a younger audience, not his age group. While he tries to keep up with technology, he says that his generation is always playing catch-up. He thinks he has seen his generation moving beyond consumerism.

As far as what he sees in his surroundings, he does not spend his days in an office. He works for himself and when not working from home or traveling, typically spends a lot of time at his Starbucks “office” to get a change of scenery. He does not have a typical workday and this affords him a lot of flexibility.

3. What does he say and do? Attitude in public? Appearance? Behavior towards others?

He is an affable and fun loving person. He enjoys people and being social, but also enjoys quite time and privacy. The balance of both of those dynamics is important to him. He enjoys restaurants (he has his favorite local Italian and Sushi restaurants which he frequents regularly), movies (he sees just about every movie that comes out), and spending time with friends, as well as reading, photography, travel, biking, hiking, time outdoors, and any time where he can be close to nature.

He is a friendly and outgoing person who tries to be aware of his surroundings and sensitive to the needs of others, but admits he is not always successful. He cares about others, particularly other cultures, because he has spent a lot of time traveling. He is sensitive not to put labels on people. He has had to be able to do business all over the world, including in Asia, Europe, and South America, which is part of why he has become a good listener over the years.

He cares about his appearance, whether physical or through his behavior, although not in terms of how others view him, but instead because of how it makes him feel. He wears nice clothes because he likes nice clothes not because he’s trying to impress others. They make him feel good. He likes good quality clothes and will often have suits and shirts custom made. He is tall, 6’2”, so it is difficult to find his size in a store, but because he works in the industry, he has a sensibility about clothes. He is not driven by labels, he just likes quality. He would rather spend more on one really great item than on many cheap items.

4. What does he hear? What friends say? What bosses say? What influencers say?

He listens to everything around him because he thinks it is important to know everything going on in his world. He chooses from the information he listens to in order to formulate his opinions. He points out that it is important to differentiate between what he hears and what he listens to. While it is important to hear everything, you don’t have to listen to everything you hear. He listens to what resonates with him as a person, with his values. He is not easily influenced; he listens and forms his own opinions. He is a bit skeptical and does not take things at face value. He actively researches everything that he comes across, whether its politics, consumer products, etc. and is the first one to call BS when he hears it. He is therefore an informed consumer, he does due diligence on products before making any important purchase. He also thinks that most people do not listen enough, whether it be to sports, politics, commercials, which relates to what he thinks about the younger generations no paying enough attention.  

His friends and coworkers find him honest, trustworthy and reliable. They would say he is very loyal.

  

5. What are his pain points? Fears? Frustrations? Obstacles?

Michael’s general pain points are dishonesty and injustice whether it be in business, politics, or personal relationships. His fears goes back to financial insecurities, he does not fear death or anything like that. At this stage in his life, fear, to him, is more tangible, like not being able to provide for his family. Despite his many professional successes, he still finds not having a college degree to be an obstacle that he continues push past.  

6. What does he hope to gain? Wants/needs? Measures of success?

Not surprisingly, since he values his family and relationships above all else, his measures of success are having been a good husband and father who has been there for his family. That is the most important measure of success to him at this point in his life. At other stages in his life, there were other things to validate his success. He has had other financial and business successes, but those are secondary to his personal success now. Hopes to gain security, not necessarily wealth but security.

He has been successful in business, he’s owned a home, so a lot of the aspirations he once had, he has accomplished. His current wants/needs are for his family to be healthy and happy, those are the primary issues that dominate his life, everything else is ancillary.

Having lived through many ups and downs, economically, professionally and personally, he is realistically hopeful about the future and at this age, wants to focus his energies on what really matters to him. 

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