It seems that once or twice a year, a politician somewhere decides that Internet users are being exploited when their personal information is passed around between advertisers without their knowledge or permission. Now, proposed legislation in New York would make it a crime for certain Web companies to use personal information about consumers for advertising without their consent. (You can read the New York Times article here.)

Needless to say, these same politicians probably have no idea that far more personal information, such as credit card purchases and family status, is routinely bought and sold between marketers with virtually no ability for consumers to control it. But the price we pay for being Internet marketers on the leading edge is the inevitable shots by people who don’t like change they don’t understand.

My guess is that such legislation will never see the light of day. Few consumers would volunteer their permission to be silently tracked from site to site. The drop-off in available advertising views would destroy countless Internet businesses that depend on that advertising revenue. On the other hand, it's a pretty interesting thought exercise to consider if most of the marketing on the Internet moved toward a fundamentally permission-based model... That could be a very good thing for everyone who reads this blog.

Posted by Bill Nussey at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Our friends at Goodmail recently announced an extension to their certified delivery program called Goodmail CertifiedEmail Paper Suppression. (You can read about it here.) I’ve been in the email business in one form or another for 20 years and the question has always been, “When will email really step up and become a replacement for the venerable fax machine and paper?” Many companies over the last 10 years or so have introduced solutions in this area but, to my knowledge, none have really caught on.

What makes the Goodmail solution interesting and potentially ground-breaking is the company’s ability to offer this at scale. First of all, it is including marketers as a target audience, which opens up a whole new realm for legally-certifiable emails. Marketers communicate with large audiences and can potentially create massive cost savings over the more traditional paper and stamp approach. Second, Goodmail is smart to be open about their pricing. My assumption had been that the company would price this as a premium service. Surprisingly and fortunately, its press release states the pricing as 3 cents per message. Considering how much the alternatives cost, this is a huge savings and will likely spur wide adoption.

My hat is off to the Goodmail team for this innovative new product. I’m interested in learning more about just how legally binding this solution is and whether it’ll take a major court case to put the question to rest once and for all.

Posted by Bill Nussey at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For the last 10 years or so, I've had the privilege of sharing my observations on creativity and innovation in growing businesses with one of entrepreneurship classes at Harvard Business School. And while the topic is bit outside day-to-day marketing, I think many of the observations on creativity in small businesses apply to what we do every day as marketers. In my lecture, I touched on seven areas that enable small companies to achieve very high levels of creativity and innovation:

1. Limited resources. Necessity is the mother of invention.

2. Limitless upside. Incredible rewards drive incredible effort; anything seems possible.

3. Individual impact. People at all levels can directly impact the company’s success; they tend to act like owners.

4. Tight community. True interdependence minimizes "free riders," and creates virtuous culture that ensures maximum productivity.

5. Unique people. The risk profile of small businesses attracts “out of the box” people.

6. Lack of process. Little oversight and limited processes result in risk taking and non-standard approaches.

7. Extreme flexibility. The business can easily shift to accommodate new opportunities.

Creativity is very hard to measure, but it is just as much the lifeblood of marketing as it is the key success factor in young businesses. The bottom line is that creativity and innovation derive from a willingness to try new things, to be flexible and, above all, to take risks. So, the next time your boss is pressing for more creative campaigns, tell him/her that creativity is easy--as long as you're willing to try new things, and be wrong from time to time.

Posted by Bill Nussey at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)