Marketing Direction - Why not How or What...

[Thom]

I would be curious to hear Brian Pages thought's on these different marketing approaches or anyone from the marketing team. The thread is called marketing direction and we have 9 pages of discussion but not one person from the marketing team has posted to agree or disagree with anything that has been said here.

That is a very important observation. It would be nice if more people from i3 shared the founder's practice of forum interaction. I for one would love to hear the perspective of successful marketers.

It reminds me the summary I did of last Friday's mumble session and the fact nobody raised a single point about the translation of old holdings into new BTS shares, yet it has been the major point of controversy for the "merger / sharedrop". Just an observation, probably totally unrelated to the lack of comments from i3 marketing department.

[Gentso1]

I just watched the Ted talk BM linked to. Interesting talk. I think I may have seen it before its been awhile though.

It makes a lot of sense though

Emotion is found in the most primitive area of the human brain. The part of the brain that we share with all other mammals on Earth. The part of the brain that drove our ancestors to act. If they came across a deadly animal like a lion they would experience fear and the fear would drive them to either fight the animal or run away. (flight or fight response aka stress)

The outermost portion of the human brain is the most recently evolved brain and is what allows us to imagine many future possibilities and then take action. AKA planning.

The outermost portion of the brain is what separates humans from our ape chimpanzee cousins whom we share an ancestor with. (98% of human and Chimp DNA is the same 1% separates us)

It makes sense that the ancient part of the brain drives us towards action and overrides the newer part of the human brain as it has been around for far longer.



On a side note it is probably what separates Apple vs Android users. Apple users perhaps are driven by feelings more so than Android users. Android users are driven more by features, specs, hardware. Driven more by logic than emotions.

Everything you have said here is great and true. Why would we want to follow the apple model when it clearly has not worked. To be fair It worked for a time but I will point out again they were really first to the market.

The only reason I could see or understand not wanting to mimic the market leader (android) would be because we can't. By can't I mean that we can not do what banks and exchanges are doing for cheaper. If this is true and we can't compete with them on a economic level then the apple route is the only way to succeed. 

I would be curious to hear Brian Pages thought's on these different marketing approaches or anyone from the marketing team. The thread is called marketing direction and we have 9 pages of discussion but not one person from the marketing team has posted to agree or disagree with anything that has been said here.

[JoeyD]

On a side note it is probably what separates Apple vs Android users. Apple users perhaps are driven by feelings more so than Android users. Android users are driven more by features, specs, hardware. Driven more by logic than emotions.

I've had random Apple fanboys start getting all worked up when I talk about my new android phone... like they are unnaturally threatened.  Quite funny really.

It is those emotions haha
Never understood the cult like following of Apple. This probably explains actual cults and many religion. Regardless of how illogical it may actually be they exist because of the emotions people experience.

Yep, we need our own tribe so we can tap into that part of the brain.  It is a very powerful thing.  Call it a religion/cult, whatever IMO it is all tribalism.  So how do you get people to love it ?   Is it by suggesting a level of scarcity and exclusivity?

As much as it pains me to admit it, but I'm estimating the majority of what I learned when I was at the Royal Military Acadamy was about tapping into this tribal aspect of humans. And yes it is a very powerful mechanic, because nobody there was in it for the money.

I'm hesitant to share what I was taught there, not just because of me being uncomfortable with the idea, but also because even in the army it was a double edged sword and very hard to control. Last thing I did before I suffered my disability and subsequent discharge, was looking how these opensource communities functioned (the so called bazaar model) and trying to work out what makes that seemingly uncontrolled and almost unfathomable system work as well as it does. Personally I have a gut feeling that if we manage to reproduce a similar system as the bazaar opensource movement we'd have a much more powerful and virtually indestructible system, albeit also an uncontrollable one.

[gamey]

On a side note it is probably what separates Apple vs Android users. Apple users perhaps are driven by feelings more so than Android users. Android users are driven more by features, specs, hardware. Driven more by logic than emotions.

I've had random Apple fanboys start getting all worked up when I talk about my new android phone... like they are unnaturally threatened.  Quite funny really.

It is those emotions haha
Never understood the cult like following of Apple. This probably explains actual cults and many religion. Regardless of how illogical it may actually be they exist because of the emotions people experience.

Yep, we need our own tribe so we can tap into that part of the brain.  It is a very powerful thing.  Call it a religion/cult, whatever IMO it is all tribalism.  So how do you get people to love it ?   Is it by suggesting a level of scarcity and exclusivity? 

[jae208]

On a side note it is probably what separates Apple vs Android users. Apple users perhaps are driven by feelings more so than Android users. Android users are driven more by features, specs, hardware. Driven more by logic than emotions.

I've had random Apple fanboys start getting all worked up when I talk about my new android phone... like they are unnaturally threatened.  Quite funny really.

It is those emotions haha
Never understood the cult like following of Apple. This probably explains actual cults and many religion. Regardless of how illogical it may actually be they exist because of the emotions people experience.

[gamey]

On a side note it is probably what separates Apple vs Android users. Apple users perhaps are driven by feelings more so than Android users. Android users are driven more by features, specs, hardware. Driven more by logic than emotions.

I've had random Apple fanboys start getting all worked up when I talk about my new android phone... like they are unnaturally threatened.  Quite funny really. 

[jae208]

I just watched the Ted talk BM linked to. Interesting talk. I think I may have seen it before its been awhile though.

It makes a lot of sense though

Emotion is found in the most primitive area of the human brain. The part of the brain that we share with all other mammals on Earth. The part of the brain that drove our ancestors to act. If they came across a deadly animal like a lion they would experience fear and the fear would drive them to either fight the animal or run away. (flight or fight response aka stress)

The outermost portion of the human brain is the most recently evolved brain and is what allows us to imagine many future possibilities and then take action. AKA planning.

The outermost portion of the brain is what separates humans from our ape chimpanzee cousins whom we share an ancestor with. (98% of human and Chimp DNA is the same 1% separates us)

It makes sense that the ancient part of the brain drives us towards action and overrides the newer part of the human brain as it has been around for far longer.



On a side note it is probably what separates Apple vs Android users. Apple users perhaps are driven by feelings more so than Android users. Android users are driven more by features, specs, hardware. Driven more by logic than emotions.

[hpenvy]

1) We need a bitcoind compatible api if the blockchain would support it.  This is for all the services that want to support bts/btsx but can't.  Since I have received no answer whether it is possible, then I'm going to harp on the bitcoind thing until I hear it isn't possible. 


2) We need a super simple and stable bitUSD wallet that would ideally work on android/ios in addition to the desktop operating systems.

With android wallet etc we can likely also airdrop bitusd onto users.  Google does a lot of authentication stuff to keep you from making an unrelated google account.

This is important.

    

[Method-X]

1) We need a bitcoind compatible api if the blockchain would support it.  This is for all the services that want to support bts/btsx but can't.  Since I have received no answer whether it is possible, then I'm going to harp on the bitcoind thing until I hear it isn't possible.  If it is hard to code currently, then the devs need to start abstracting that part of the code so eventually someone can implement it alongside TITAN.  Otherwise we will be forever ignored until our marketcap gets another digit IMO.


2) We need a super simple and stable bitUSD wallet that would ideally work on android/ios in addition to the desktop operating systems.

With android wallet etc we can likely also airdrop bitusd onto users.  Google does a lot of authentication stuff to keep you from making an unrelated google account.

I'd like to add that it would be better to airdrop on area codes as opposed to Google accounts. This allows for targeting specific geographic locations such as Argentina.

[donkeypong]

1) We need a bitcoind compatible api if the blockchain would support it.  This is for all the services that want to support bts/btsx but can't.  Since I have received no answer whether it is possible, then I'm going to harp on the bitcoind thing until I hear it isn't possible. 


2) We need a super simple and stable bitUSD wallet that would ideally work on android/ios in addition to the desktop operating systems.

With android wallet etc we can likely also airdrop bitusd onto users.  Google does a lot of authentication stuff to keep you from making an unrelated google account.

This is important.

[gamey]

1) We need a bitcoind compatible api if the blockchain would support it.  This is for all the services that want to support bts/btsx but can't.  Since I have received no answer whether it is possible, then I'm going to harp on the bitcoind thing until I hear it isn't possible.  If it is hard to code currently, then the devs need to start abstracting that part of the code so eventually someone can implement it alongside TITAN.  Otherwise we will be forever ignored until our marketcap gets another digit IMO.


2) We need a super simple and stable bitUSD wallet that would ideally work on android/ios in addition to the desktop operating systems.

With android wallet etc we can likely also airdrop bitusd onto users.  Google does a lot of authentication stuff to keep you from making an unrelated google account.

[JoeyD]

To me, Apple is about taking complicated technology and making it simple. Everything you mentioned about Apple I also despise, but the simplicity aspect is really something I support. What do you think targeting markets outside America? This reminds me, I need to get on mumble again soon! Lots of interesting people on there.

Oh no, I do not mean that we should make things overly complicated, actually I want the complete opposite. To me merging everything in the superdac made things more complicated. Which I hope gets sorted out real fast. The one thing it did solve was the bitUsd-chain being the common basis for all separate DACs. I was not a fan of that and found it far too limited to just the US market where to be honest most of these DACs do not offer the same level of benefits. Like how for example free internet and freedom of speech (KeyID and such) can be a considerably more lethal hobby outside of the us-market.

So yeah, I agree that targeting markets outside the US is very important, in more ways than I'm going to list here. But to give two examples from both edges of the spectrum:

If you just take money to spend per head of the population as a target, then Europe is a far better target than the US. Apparently Europe is the largest economy in the world, still in the effects of a crisis, highly antagonistic to the current "too big to fail" banks and not getting any credit, loans or interest on their savings. The latter especially encouraging seeing as the "test case" in Cyprus plus recently accepted laws have made leaving you money in the banks seem like a extremely risky gamble.

The other and to me more interesting target market are the people and nations that are in desperate need of this. Not just because of the humanitarian aspect, but also as in creating massive opportunities and opening a gigantic untapped marketplace.

[jae208]

I'm saying two things. First everybody wants to become the next Apple or Steve Jobs, but that doesn't mean you will, so I think you should plan for the long difficult road instead of counting on becoming a rock-star overnight.

Second, I do not want to help create a second Apple at all. I do not like anything Apple stands for it is the complete opposite that we hope to achieve here. What philosophy of Apple with their patent trolling, walled garden, monopolistic tactics and gatekeeper ridden appstore held together by their Reality Distortion Field marketing is in any way, shape or form exemplary for bitshares?

I definitely agree with your second paragraph and wrote something similar a few pages back.

"Apple is proprietary, secretive, with top down centrally controlled management and they certainly aren't innovative at all." I also mentioned that Bitshares stands for the opposite of what Apple does.

I still think we can learn from their success in particular I think we can learn from them what it takes to have a loyal following. Or just use Apple as a case study for how to achieve a cult like following.

I'm of the opinion that the only way we can help Bitshares grow is by putting the interest of the users first before the interest of the investor and ROI. If we have a growing user base it helps investors have a greater ROI in the long run.

Interesting read that I recommend everyone read when they have a chance.
http://blogs.wsj.com/accelerators/2014/06/03/jessica-livingston-why-startups-need-to-focus-on-sales-not-marketing/

Quote from the article

"At  Y Combinator, we advise most startups to begin by seeking out some core group of early adopters and then engaging with individual users to convince them to sign up.

For example, the early adopters of Airbnb were hosts and guests in New York City (Y Combinator funded Airbnb in Winter of 2009).  To grow, Airbnb needed to get more hosts and also help existing hosts convert better. So Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia flew to New York every week to meet with hosts — teaching them how to price their listings, take better photos, and so on. They also asked hosts for introductions to potential new hosts, who they then met in person."

Who would be our early adopters? Well for starters everyone here is an early adopter.
I think that if we could each get at least one other person to sign up and then get them to recruit others we would have viral adoption versus just waiting for a central plan from a central marketing campaign. I personally have gotten two people I know in my neighborhood to buy Bitshares. Now they just need to recruit others and everyone here needs to do the same.

Early adopters for Bitshares may be freedom seekers, security minded individuals or people that are just interested in new technology. My thinking has evolved as I read through the posts on this thread. BM makes many good points in the op. Early on this technology appeals most to freedom seekers and we should be engaging them. Later when this ecosystem is larger we can focus on the mainstream. In fact we could engage the mainstream now by saying that they can send money in a peer to peer fashion to any part in the world with greater security and lower fees than Bitcoin or credit cards.

I'll definitely make greater effort to practice what I am preaching and as a result I purchased the domain name in my signature and created a youtube channel to go along with it. My goal is to make Bitshares easier to use by showing people how to use it.
 

[tonyk]

Second, I do not want to help create a second Apple at all. I do not like anything Apple stands for it is the complete opposite that we hope to achieve here. What philosophy of Apple with their patent trolling, walled garden, monopolistic tactics and gatekeeper ridden appstore held together by their Reality Distortion Field marketing is in any way, shape or form exemplary for bitshares?

 
       
              +5
                     

[Method-X]

Second, I do not want to help create a second Apple at all. I do not like anything Apple stands for it is the complete opposite that we hope to achieve here. What philosophy of Apple with their patent trolling, walled garden, monopolistic tactics and gatekeeper ridden appstore held together by their Reality Distortion Field marketing is in any way, shape or form exemplary for bitshares?

To me, Apple is about taking complicated technology and making it simple. Everything you mentioned about Apple I also despise, but the simplicity aspect is really something I support. What do you think targeting markets outside America? This reminds me, I need to get on mumble again soon! Lots of interesting people on there.