Marketing Direction - Why not How or What...

[xh3]

Bitshares has extreme potential.  I got on board last year because I could feel the promise and resolve of Bytemaster, Stan, and crew to make a positive change in the world.  When it comes time to sell the idea to the world-at-large, the best metaphor to use IMO is that of a work of art.   Works of art are effective when they make us FEEL something.  The finalized Bitshares product definitely has the potential to make the user feel good things, especially if the design and function are maximised to this end.

This link elegantly sums up my thinking.

http://www.joquz.com/2271/paper-art-principle-of-design-poster-series

balance  (ideology/utility, elegance/complexity, etc.)

hierarchy  (of ideals:  free trade, no need for trust, you're in control,)

space   (elegant and simple GUI, easily comprehensible functionality)

proportion  (Main, secondary, and tertiary functionalities)

emphasis  (  on banking and financial freedom )

contrast  (Stands apart from establised system)

unity  (works like what people already know)

[bytemaster]

Marketing messages will change over time as the product matures... but right now we will piss off anyone who isn't onboard philosophically because the bugs and beta nature of the software.

Apple's philosophy wouldn't mean a thing without great products... but great products don't mean a thing without a philosophical connection, a "why" that transcends logic.   

So I am not advocating ignoring utility... merely that the utility is the "deal closer" and emotion/ideal/why is the opener.

[Empirical1.1]

Let's not mix up ideology with values with emotions. We might not succeed pushing either ideology or trying to sell BTS based on emotions. VALUES is what we need to define and live imo.

Even coming from various backgrounds and having different worldviews we bitSHARE certain values e.g. such as freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security - to name a few... bitValues should define BitShares culture!

I like the idea of having a set of tenets somehow attached to the brand. (e.g. Bitshares stands for freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security etc), but that's it - literally a list. Let people interpret these words to fit their own worldview and belief system.

Anything beyond that and we become preachers. Do we want to become preachers? I don't think we do. If we were to go down that route IMHO we place ourselves in to very dogy territory from a marketing standpoint. We have to start negative campaigning against other economic models and quickly you get in to an place where you are having to agree that you don't believe in a nations and states. This message, whether you believe in nation and state or not, does not have mass market appeal IMHO.

  I agree with the vision being embodied in a set of 4/5 key tenants/principles/values a mainstream majority can universally relate to in their own way.

But because we do have a very small budget with which to try & kickstart something potentially global in a short time, I'm not averse to doing something with bit more kick/oomph/controversy to get noticed. (In fact I'd personally target the most lucrative niches first and learn from that vs. jumping straight into mainstream where we may have pretty glaring obvious strategy flaws that could have been ironed out. Also if you're not focusing on a quite specific demographic, with a small budget, it's easy to spend a lot of money and not make any impact at all.)

Hopefully the marketing team did their homework on market segmentation and what area/demographics to focus on and with what messages. Folks and market segments out there have various values which define their buying attitudes. Most Chinese business students, for instance, will likely have different attitudes compared with experienced US programmers, and both of them will differ from London bankers and Indian retailers...

do i want to use bitUSD PRIMARILY because
- my cool schoolmates use it and i don't want to look stupid? (ego-defensive)
- that is convenient for payments and earns yield? (utilitarian)
- it corresponds to my ideals of freedom and privacy? (value-expressive)
- in fact is the state-of-the-art and most secure alternative among cryptos? (knowledge-based)

thus the marketing message to each distinct group should be carefully targeted based on their attitudes. 3i marketing have probably done lots of market research already... here is an educational summary of consumer attitudes approach;
http://marketography.com/tag/ego-defensive-function/

i am not claiming to know much about selling breakthrough high-tech, just hoping to help in framing this thread.

I don't think so, I haven't heard anything about specific niches. The feedback I'm getting really says they're going 'generic mainstream' and they're wary of pigeon holing themselves into a brand image say only a 1/3 of the public will strongly support.

From my POV really resonating with & appealing to 1/3 of the public is far superior to being a wishy washy brand that doesn't gain any traction at the start. As far as BitAssets go, despite the various front ends mainstream may use, I find it hard to believe that there is any escaping from the fact that BitShares is in fact a DAC and not a brick and mortar company. We should own that and be proud of it, not do so could be viewed as weak and even deceptive.

Also that 1/3 of the public that are disillusioned with the current system is the segment that is growing fastest and will soon encompass the majority as the collapse of the current financial system plays out imo.

So I would say own it, but at the very least have a few key tenants like 'freedom, privacy & fairness' that a majority can still universally relate too.

[kisa]

Let's not mix up ideology with values with emotions. We might not succeed pushing either ideology or trying to sell BTS based on emotions. VALUES is what we need to define and live imo.

Even coming from various backgrounds and having different worldviews we bitSHARE certain values e.g. such as freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security - to name a few... bitValues should define BitShares culture!

I like the idea of having a set of tenets somehow attached to the brand. (e.g. Bitshares stands for freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security etc), but that's it - literally a list. Let people interpret these words to fit their own worldview and belief system.

Anything beyond that and we become preachers. Do we want to become preachers? I don't think we do. If we were to go down that route IMHO we place ourselves in to very dogy territory from a marketing standpoint. We have to start negative campaigning against other economic models and quickly you get in to an place where you are having to agree that you don't believe in a nations and states. This message, whether you believe in nation and state or not, does not have mass market appeal IMHO.

  I agree with the vision being embodied in a set of 4/5 key tenants/principles/values a mainstream majority can universally relate to in their own way.

But because we do have a very small budget with which to try & kickstart something potentially global in a short time, I'm not averse to doing something with bit more kick/oomph/controversy to get noticed. (In fact I'd personally target the most lucrative niches first and learn from that vs. jumping straight into mainstream where we may have pretty glaring obvious strategy flaws that could have been ironed out. Also if you're not focusing on a quite specific demographic, with a small budget, it's easy to spend a lot of money and not make any impact at all.)

Hopefully the marketing team did their homework on market segmentation and what area/demographics to focus on and with what messages. Folks and market segments out there have various values which define their buying attitudes. Most Chinese business students, for instance, will likely have different attitudes compared with experienced US programmers, and both of them will differ from London bankers and Indian retailers...

do i want to use bitUSD PRIMARILY because
- my cool schoolmates use it and i don't want to look stupid? (ego-defensive)
- that is convenient for payments and earns yield? (utilitarian)
- it corresponds to my ideals of freedom and privacy? (value-expressive)
- in fact is the state-of-the-art and most secure alternative among cryptos? (knowledge-based)

thus the marketing message to each distinct group should be carefully targeted based on their attitudes. 3i marketing have probably done lots of market research already... here is an educational summary of consumer attitudes approach;
http://marketography.com/tag/ego-defensive-function/

i am not claiming to know much about selling breakthrough high-tech, just hoping to help in framing this thread.

[lovejoy]

I would like to take a step back and help us all reflect on why we are doing what we are doing and what it is that has created this community in the first place.   

I have set out on a mission in life to find free market solutions to secure life, liberty, and property and BitShares is my evolving approach to this problem.   Many people have joined us because of this vision and have become a fan because of what we believe more so than what we have built.   In the middle of our success it is easy to lose sight of what is bringing us all together and what really matters. 

Does our technology help us achieve our purpose, freedom.   Who should our technology appeal to?   It should appeal to those who want economic freedom in both trade and wealth. 

Selling BitShares as a "company" with X, Y, Z features is approaching the space like Dell and not Apple.   Lets reimagine everything, think out side the box and create a society where we can be secure and where threats of violence by the government are overwhelmed by non-violent cooperation.  We all long for freedom, it is universal.    We all long for security.   No one likes theft and violence.     

The problem we have is that most people won't choose to adopt BitUSD because of its yield or merchant adoption.   They will first choose to adopt it because it resonates with something DEEP within... they do it "just because"... to make a statement to the outside world that there is a different way.   

So lets not sell a product with features... lets let people know what we believe and stand for.   Lets let the world know that owning BitShares or buying BitUSD is about making a statement not making an investment.   Bitcoin grew because it allowed people to make a statement... but it was too volatile for more than the true believers in the vision to hold.    BitUSD gives the true believers a safe place to express themselves backed by extreme believers.    You don't accept BitUSD at your business just because it is better than a credit card, you accept it to make a point and that point is that you believe in freedom, transparency, and individual financial sovernty. 

I don't know about you, but this vision is not based upon a share price and does not depend upon any set of features.   It is something that we can build for ourselves at any scale if we can attract like minded people.   

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

So... lets go change the world!

 

Yes!  I've been using this approach to bring in BitShares adopters for the last two months, to people who have little interest and less knowledge of crypto-currency, and people who are not shopping for new financial instruments.

I'm guessing those of you in the 'utility is everything' camp must not have watched the Ted Talk link in the OP?  TiVo is exactly the point, and the warning to heed.  No one is suggesting we shouldn't develop amazing features and place a premium on utility... but that's not effective marketing, and it's not inspiring.

If the Apple analogy doesn't work for you, I submit that we are much more like the Wright Brothers, and Martin Luther King.

We have a dream.  Dan Larimer has a dream.  We are all now dreaming that dream together in real time and working to make it a reality.

Right now we need to be inspiring the innovators & early adopters, not selling features to the early majority.  We shouldn't even really be thinking about the early majority right now, they don't even know there's a problem to be solved yet, and they won't, until they hear it from the innovators & early adopters.

Making a statement is fine, but this is really about taking a stand.  There are many many people who are not remotely involved in the world of crypto-currency but who are highly sympathetic to the premise of our actions.  The relevant tactic at this time is to inspire a small army of these folks who believe in what BitShares stands for, and the vast potential it represents across the full spectrum of human endeavor, and get them to take action.  The early adopters will come onboard before things are perfect because it feels right, because they see the potential.

If you're waiting for the perfect on-ramp to appear, stand up, walk to the nearest mirror, and behold... the perfect on-ramp, right now.

Everyone I've gotten involved in BitShares so far has done so because they are aligned with the basic principle of Freedom which unites virtually everyone.  I submit that Freedom is not an ideology, it is the primary state which exists before ideology even arrives on the scene.  We are born free, but everywhere we are in chains, to some degree or another.  Freedom is not an exotic commodity that will alienate people if it is articulated well, it is their natural state, and everyone on some level wishes to return to a state of total freedom.

There can and must be many approaches to selling our vision, and our product, to people.  There are so many different kinds of people.  But right now, I believe Dan is right again.  No one is calling for meetups with readings of Kropotkin, but a simple appeal to the underlying vision that unites us all.  It will unite more than just us innovators.  There are so many who can yet be reached, they are all across the spectrum, there's so much more we agree on than disagree.

Try to list your ideology, your politics, in as positive terms as possible (what you are FOR, not AGAINST), as ONE reason and motivation for getting into your product. Now make a real effort to list as many radically OTHER reasons and motivations for getting into your product as possible. Finally try to express them all in the most beautiful, universal message.

That, I submit, is what great leaders do.

A beautiful, universal message, that's some good homework!

Something people here need to understand: a powerful, emotional message and product utility are not binary options. You need an emotional message to get the attention of average people. Once you've got their attention, impress them with awesome utility.

Yes!

[sschechter]

I like the idea of having a set of tenets somehow attached to the brand. (e.g. Bitshares stands for freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security etc), but that's it - literally a list. Let people interpret these words to fit their own worldview and belief system.

 

[Empirical1.1]

Let's not mix up ideology with values with emotions. We might not succeed pushing either ideology or trying to sell BTS based on emotions. VALUES is what we need to define and live imo.

Even coming from various backgrounds and having different worldviews we bitSHARE certain values e.g. such as freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security - to name a few... bitValues should define BitShares culture!

I like the idea of having a set of tenets somehow attached to the brand. (e.g. Bitshares stands for freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security etc), but that's it - literally a list. Let people interpret these words to fit their own worldview and belief system.

Anything beyond that and we become preachers. Do we want to become preachers? I don't think we do. If we were to go down that route IMHO we place ourselves in to very dogy territory from a marketing standpoint. We have to start negative campaigning against other economic models and quickly you get in to an place where you are having to agree that you don't believe in a nations and states. This message, whether you believe in nation and state or not, does not have mass market appeal IMHO.

  I agree with the vision being embodied in a set of 4/5 key tenants/principles/values a mainstream majority can universally relate to in their own way.

But because we do have a very small budget with which to try & kickstart something potentially global in a short time, I'm not averse to doing something with bit more kick/oomph/controversy to get noticed. (In fact I'd personally target the most lucrative niches first and learn from that vs. jumping straight into mainstream where we may have pretty glaring obvious strategy flaws that could have been ironed out. Also if you're not focusing on a quite specific demographic, it's easy to spend a lot of money and not make any impact at all.)

[santaclause102]

Something people here need to understand: a powerful, emotional message and product utility are not binary options. You need an emotional message to get the attention of average people. Once you've got their attention, impress them with awesome utility.

Bytemaster: Read Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore <-- Written over 20 years ago, it's just as relevant today as it was then. I cannot recommend this book enough.

[santaclause102]

I would like to take a step back and help us all reflect on why we are doing what we are doing and what it is that has created this community in the first place.   

I have set out on a mission in life to find free market solutions to secure life, liberty, and property and BitShares is my evolving approach to this problem.   Many people have joined us because of this vision and have become a fan because of what we believe more so than what we have built.   In the middle of our success it is easy to lose sight of what is bringing us all together and what really matters. 

Does our technology help us achieve our purpose, freedom.   Who should our technology appeal to?   It should appeal to those who want economic freedom in both trade and wealth. 

Selling BitShares as a "company" with X, Y, Z features is approaching the space like Dell and not Apple.   Lets reimagine everything, think out side the box and create a society where we can be secure and where threats of violence by the government are overwhelmed by non-violent cooperation.  We all long for freedom, it is universal.    We all long for security.   No one likes theft and violence.     

The problem we have is that most people won't choose to adopt BitUSD because of its yield or merchant adoption.   They will first choose to adopt it because it resonates with something DEEP within... they do it "just because"... to make a statement to the outside world that there is a different way.   

So lets not sell a product with features... lets let people know what we believe and stand for.   Lets let the world know that owning BitShares or buying BitUSD is about making a statement not making an investment.   Bitcoin grew because it allowed people to make a statement... but it was too volatile for more than the true believers in the vision to hold.    BitUSD gives the true believers a safe place to express themselves backed by extreme believers.    You don't accept BitUSD at your business just because it is better than a credit card, you accept it to make a point and that point is that you believe in freedom, transparency, and individual financial sovernty. 

I don't know about you, but this vision is not based upon a share price and does not depend upon any set of features.   It is something that we can build for ourselves at any scale if we can attract like minded people.   

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

So... lets go change the world!

That makes total sense to me.
1) Because we (this community and I3) really believes in it.
2) And because it makes total sense from a marketing/PR standpoint! Appeal to people's ideals and not what to their greed!

[pseudoscops]

Let's not mix up ideology with values with emotions. We might not succeed pushing either ideology or trying to sell BTS based on emotions. VALUES is what we need to define and live imo.

Even coming from various backgrounds and having different worldviews we bitSHARE certain values e.g. such as freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security - to name a few... bitValues should define BitShares culture!

I like the idea of having a set of tenets somehow attached to the brand. (e.g. Bitshares stands for freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security etc), but that's it - literally a list. Let people interpret these words to fit their own worldview and belief system.

Anything beyond that and we become preachers. Do we want to become preachers? I don't think we do. If we were to go down that route IMHO we place ourselves in to very dogy territory from a marketing standpoint. We have to start negative campaigning against other economic models and quickly you get in to an place where you are having to agree that you don't believe in a nations and states. This message, whether you believe in nation and state or not, does not have mass market appeal IMHO.

[kisa]

Let's not mix up ideology with values with emotions. We might not succeed pushing either ideology or trying to sell BTS based on emotions. VALUES is what we need to define and live imo.

Even coming from various backgrounds and having different worldviews we bitSHARE certain values e.g. such as freedom, privacy, fairness, creativity, meritocracy, security - to name a few... bitValues should define BitShares culture!

[CLains]

Addressing WHY is not addressing YOUR why. Your WHY is the reason you developed this technology, and your personal motivation. Your PRODUCT transcends you completely, and exists for reasons and motivations beyond you. This is something you will have to be open to discover properly and on its own terms.

Try to list your ideology, your politics, in as positive terms as possible (what you are FOR, not AGAINST), as ONE reason and motivation for getting into your product. Now make a real effort to list as many radically OTHER reasons and motivations for getting into your product as possible. Finally try to express them all in the most beautiful, universal message.

That, I submit, is what great leaders do.

[wasthatawolf]

Ideology is a marketing loser if your goal is wide adoption.

 

Focus on utility and merchant adoption. 

Those that share your ideology and vision will find their way here on their own, as they have up to this point.

[Thom]

I am an empirical idealist. I have much greater appreciation and enthusiasm for BitShares knowing the primary motivation for it's creation and continued evolution is founded on principles I believe in.

But I also recognize I'm not one of the masses. Marketing to me is much different than to the masses.

I am also extremely grateful BM is so tuned into this forum and the BitShares community as there is a lot of wisdom expressed here.

I'm not a marketing expert but I think if BM doesn't get from this thread the need to provide a value proposition and utility for the masses (while sticking to the principles stated in his OP) he'll be doing the community a disservice by missing the wisdom expressed here.

Part of that wisdom was this, which I just finished watching ( matt):

Ted vid: "People buy what you believe not how you do it"
http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action#t-55892

In particular I see this balance being put to the test with VOTE. As great an opportunity as it is perceived to be and may actually be to bring widespread awareness and adoption of BitShares to the masses, the implementation of the VOTE DAC must not sacrifice or compromise the underlying principle of freedom from violence that voting in a statist society represents.

I personally choose to withhold my support of statism by refusing to participate in the voting process, not on principle alone but also based on the strong empirical evidence that it doesn't do anything to effect fundamental change and is highly manipulated and corrupt in so many ways. Just check out Bev Harris' "Blackbox Voting" documentary / organization for some of this evidence.

I'm NOT saying you should refrain from moving forward with the VOTE DAC and the California initiative, only to be very cautious as you do and don't loose sight of what you said in your OP.     

[werneo]

Something people here need to understand: a powerful, emotional message and product utility are not binary options. You need an emotional message to get the attention of average people. Once you've got their attention, impress them with awesome utility.

Bytemaster: Read Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey A. Moore <-- Written over 20 years ago, it's just as relevant today as it was then. I cannot recommend this book enough.

There is a big difference between emotion and ideology.

Back in the day, the telephone company used to encourage people to use the phone by reminding them to "reach out and touch someone", while showing images that remind people of their families. Family connections emotional, not ideological. Selling emotions is frigging easy. But selling ideology? That takes $100s of billions in political campaign spending and half the time you will lose to your ideological rival.

Ideology is a marketing loser if your goal is wide adoption.