Author Topic: AN UPDATE ON THE MARKETING CAMPAIGN....can you tell us what's up???  (Read 17626 times)

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Offline Method-X

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Here's the problem with this marketing plan as I see it:

One of the main things I do these days is help startups get a userbase (among other things). So we're always dealing with network effect and the challenge of getting traction. After doing this for awhile you start to see patterns. One of the patterns I noticed is that when a company tries to go mainstream (early majority) before getting a solid foundation of early adopters, they almost always end up getting neither.

The strategy we use is called "piggybacking". That means we try to identify a market of early adopters that need the product/service right now and focus on catering to them. If the product "catches" and successfully establishes a solid niche userbase, it will organically spread to other areas (think vertical growth vs. horizontal growth). The niche we originally focused on acts as an advertisement for the utility of the product, allowing it to grow horizontally and eventually it reaches a mainstream audience all on its own.

To what extent do you see US as the early adopters?  I'm guessing you see US as the Super Early Adopters so do you think the other early adopters are that plentiful for the taking?  Can they be pursued in parallel or is that too much to bite off?

Great question.



It seems to me this marketing plan completely ignores both chasm 1 and chasm 2. Bitcoin had so many potential uses cases but failed to cross chasm 2 because of its volatility. I'm betting BitUSD will cross chasm 2 all on its own but to do so it needs to establish itself in some of the chasm 1 use cases. I see us as the innovators and we need to establish a solid base of early adopters before trying for the early majority. The early majority follows the early adopters and without them, they'll see "BitUSD" as too risky.

EDIT: Just to clarify, the OP is mostly talking about the importance of establishing onramps, to which I completely agree and it sounds like Brian and his team are making fantastic progress with that. I'm speaking more generally to the broader marketing strategy I've pieced together from various posts on this forum.
« Last Edit: October 10, 2014, 12:48:19 am by MeTHoDx »

Offline Stan

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The strategy we use is called "piggybacking". That means we try to identify a market of early adopters that need the product/service right now and focus on catering to them. If the product "catches" and successfully establishes a solid niche userbase, it will organically spread to other areas (think vertical growth vs. horizontal growth). The niche we originally focused on acts as an advertisement for the utility of the product, allowing it to grow horizontally and eventually it reaches a mainstream audience all on its own.

If I've been understanding the marketing talk correctly, I think that the niche that the team is pursuing is the people who are interested in getting into the cryptocurrency market but want to be able to protect themselves against volatility.  That's why I'm assuming they're focused on marketing bitUSD rather than directly marketing BTSX.

We will have multiple "funnels" custom-designed to bring different demographics into our ecosystem.  Definitely not one size fits all.  The list of funnels will grow over time.  Low hanging fruit is specific populations that are losing trust their own currencies (e.g.  Greece, Argentina, United States, Bitcoin :) ... ).

In the US there are many demographics, but the biggest two-way partition is those who are awake vs. those who are asleep.  Seems to make sense to target those who are awake first.  That (we hope) is the fastest growing demographic. :)    Every black swan currently on final approach will grow this group when it touches down, waking more people up and generating another flood of "refugees".  We'll need a custom funnel for each one.

But really, its mostly about using different hooks to achieve the same goal:  overcome resistance and inertia in the average consumer.  After people have safely and pleasantly experienced BitSharesX as the most competitive bank in the world, the hardest marketing task is essentially complete.  It will simply out-perform everything else out there.  "Yield on savings and checking with the ability to instantly switch which currency mix to store in your own private vault and instantly wire it anywhere in the world with none of the current systemic risks."

Then its all about sustaining a good customer experience.

« Last Edit: October 10, 2014, 12:25:32 am by Stan »
Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract of any kind.   These are merely my opinions which I reserve the right to change at any time.

Offline GaltReport

Here's the problem with this marketing plan as I see it:

One of the main things I do these days is help startups get a userbase (among other things). So we're always dealing with network effect and the challenge of getting traction. After doing this for awhile you start to see patterns. One of the patterns I noticed is that when a company tries to go mainstream (early majority) before getting a solid foundation of early adopters, they almost always end up getting neither.

The strategy we use is called "piggybacking". That means we try to identify a market of early adopters that need the product/service right now and focus on catering to them. If the product "catches" and successfully establishes a solid niche userbase, it will organically spread to other areas (think vertical growth vs. horizontal growth). The niche we originally focused on acts as an advertisement for the utility of the product, allowing it to grow horizontally and eventually it reaches a mainstream audience all on its own.

To what extent do you see US as the early adopters?  I'm guessing you see US as the Super Early Adopters so do you think the other early adopters are that plentiful for the taking?  Can they be pursued in parallel or is that too much to bite off?

Offline Method-X

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The strategy we use is called "piggybacking". That means we try to identify a market of early adopters that need the product/service right now and focus on catering to them. If the product "catches" and successfully establishes a solid niche userbase, it will organically spread to other areas (think vertical growth vs. horizontal growth). The niche we originally focused on acts as an advertisement for the utility of the product, allowing it to grow horizontally and eventually it reaches a mainstream audience all on its own.

If I've been understanding the marketing talk correctly, I think that the niche that the team is pursuing is the people who are interested in getting into the cryptocurrency market but want to be able to protect themselves against volatility.  That's why I'm assuming they're focused on marketing bitUSD rather than directly marketing BTSX.

BitUSD is the product and BTSX are shares in the company. I would never suggest we market BTSX over BitUSD.

Offline pariah99

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The strategy we use is called "piggybacking". That means we try to identify a market of early adopters that need the product/service right now and focus on catering to them. If the product "catches" and successfully establishes a solid niche userbase, it will organically spread to other areas (think vertical growth vs. horizontal growth). The niche we originally focused on acts as an advertisement for the utility of the product, allowing it to grow horizontally and eventually it reaches a mainstream audience all on its own.

If I've been understanding the marketing talk correctly, I think that the niche that the team is pursuing is the people who are interested in getting into the cryptocurrency market but want to be able to protect themselves against volatility.  That's why I'm assuming they're focused on marketing bitUSD rather than directly marketing BTSX.

Offline Method-X

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Here's the problem with this marketing plan as I see it:

One of the main things I do these days is help startups get a userbase (among other things). So we're always dealing with network effect and the challenge of getting traction. After doing this for awhile you start to see patterns. One of the patterns I noticed is that when a company tries to go mainstream (early majority) before getting a solid foundation of early adopters, they almost always end up getting neither.

The strategy we use is called "piggybacking". That means we try to identify a market of early adopters that need the product/service right now and focus on catering to them. If the product "catches" and successfully establishes a solid niche userbase, it will organically spread to other areas (think vertical growth vs. horizontal growth). The niche we originally focused on acts as an advertisement for the utility of the product, allowing it to grow horizontally and eventually it reaches a mainstream audience all on its own.

Offline pariah99

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Is there a Plan B?   And im hoping you guys are not going all in with this plan.

He said that they are working with multiple other entities to secure a pathway to be able to buy bitUSD directly as well as to sell bitUSD for fiat; all the eggs are not in one basket.

Offline donkeypong

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Wasn't there a project called dogeparty?
That's what I call true marketing effort!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUpW18Exw8g

I watched the first 30 seconds. An argument against democracy/decentralization if I ever saw one.

Offline toast

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Hey guys.   

Quick update.....I can assure you we are working around the clock on the marketing campaign.  Just like the many months Dan and the devs were working on BitSharesX - where it seemed like nothing at all was happening, this too isn't as easy (or as fast) as any of us would expect or want it to be.   

The marketing team has been spending nearly every day (and most of the event in Vegas) speaking with "on-ramp" service companies in order to find the best solution for getting USD into BTSX and bitUSD.  We are VERY close, btw, with one of them.  In addition, we are working on an "off-ramp" partner who can provide a bitUSD direct to a prepaid credit card to allow users to get out of bitUSD without needing a normal crypto exchange.  We were hoping to find one company to do both, but no one is able to do both at this time so we have two different sides to develop for this platform. 

On top of both of those partnerships, we're looking for "backup" service providers in the event either one cant handle the volume we intend to push.  We need to tie in the API's on the back end for a seamless experience, build a separate site, finish producing the multiple videos that explain what/how/why of BTSX and bitUSD, and so much more. 

This project is more involved than it may look from the outside, but I can assure you everything is moving forward.  Like Dan, I'm not going to put a specific date on when all this will be completed and the "go" button pushed, but it WILL happen. And when it does, it will be plainly obvious it is a DIRECT result of our efforts.

As for transparency, we are not sharing all the details of how or where we're going to get all the new users we expect to see into our system, or precisely what we are doing, for obvious reasons.  No one in the industry is doing what we are attempting to do - which is the very reason we will have the results no one else is having. 

The team I've assembled is nothing short of top notch and has knocked it out of the park in many other industries.  I have no doubt they'll do the same with us.  We expect a VERY significant increase in new users, as well as capital, into both BTSX and bitUSD, once launched, so our goal is real growth, not "pumping" the value artificially. 

I know many of you are anxious and wanting to see big returns on the of time, money and trust you've placed in BitShares.  I too want all of those things.  We will get there, I have no doubts.  Stay tuned.... The day we launch, I'll make the forum aware of it immediately so you can see exaclty what we've created and send your own friends and contacts through the site, to participate. 

Thanks! B

Brian, you've described bizdev activities or  "business development".  What is the marketing plan?   

Do you think Bizdev (strategic partnerships and personal relationships) and Marketing (messaging) are the same thing?

Wasn't there a project called dogeparty?
That's what I call true marketing effort!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUpW18Exw8g

give 'em a break, could be this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl6DizyZgFY

(btw I do think adam has a point we need to address - the lack of "educational" / "early-adopter" / "smart money" marketing material, which brian's team seems to treat as just another demographic to be pushed through a funnel. We'll see how it plays it.)
« Last Edit: October 09, 2014, 09:09:44 pm by toast »
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Offline tonyk

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Hey guys.   

Quick update.....I can assure you we are working around the clock on the marketing campaign.  Just like the many months Dan and the devs were working on BitSharesX - where it seemed like nothing at all was happening, this too isn't as easy (or as fast) as any of us would expect or want it to be.   

The marketing team has been spending nearly every day (and most of the event in Vegas) speaking with "on-ramp" service companies in order to find the best solution for getting USD into BTSX and bitUSD.  We are VERY close, btw, with one of them.  In addition, we are working on an "off-ramp" partner who can provide a bitUSD direct to a prepaid credit card to allow users to get out of bitUSD without needing a normal crypto exchange.  We were hoping to find one company to do both, but no one is able to do both at this time so we have two different sides to develop for this platform. 

On top of both of those partnerships, we're looking for "backup" service providers in the event either one cant handle the volume we intend to push.  We need to tie in the API's on the back end for a seamless experience, build a separate site, finish producing the multiple videos that explain what/how/why of BTSX and bitUSD, and so much more. 

This project is more involved than it may look from the outside, but I can assure you everything is moving forward.  Like Dan, I'm not going to put a specific date on when all this will be completed and the "go" button pushed, but it WILL happen. And when it does, it will be plainly obvious it is a DIRECT result of our efforts.

As for transparency, we are not sharing all the details of how or where we're going to get all the new users we expect to see into our system, or precisely what we are doing, for obvious reasons.  No one in the industry is doing what we are attempting to do - which is the very reason we will have the results no one else is having. 

The team I've assembled is nothing short of top notch and has knocked it out of the park in many other industries.  I have no doubt they'll do the same with us.  We expect a VERY significant increase in new users, as well as capital, into both BTSX and bitUSD, once launched, so our goal is real growth, not "pumping" the value artificially. 

I know many of you are anxious and wanting to see big returns on the of time, money and trust you've placed in BitShares.  I too want all of those things.  We will get there, I have no doubts.  Stay tuned.... The day we launch, I'll make the forum aware of it immediately so you can see exaclty what we've created and send your own friends and contacts through the site, to participate. 

Thanks! B

Brian, you've described bizdev activities or  "business development".  What is the marketing plan?   

Do you think Bizdev (strategic partnerships and personal relationships) and Marketing (messaging) are the same thing?

Wasn't there a project called dogeparty?
That's what I call true marketing effort - AdamBLevine style!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUpW18Exw8g
« Last Edit: October 09, 2014, 09:01:54 pm by tonyk »
Lack of arbitrage is the problem, isn't it. And this 'should' solves it.

Offline donkeypong

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There might be Plans B-Z for all we know, but they're as confidential as Plan A.

Offline Riverhead

I think it's hilarious that people are critical of a plan they know nothing about. How many different ways can one say, "I don't know what you guys have planned but I'd do it differently and with better people" :P

Offline eagleeye

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Is there a Plan B?   And im hoping you guys are not going all in with this plan.

Offline sschechter

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Brian, you've described bizdev activities or  "business development".  What is the marketing plan?   

Do you think Bizdev (strategic partnerships and personal relationships) and Marketing (messaging) are the same thing?

I believe this is it:

As for transparency, we are not sharing all the details of how or where we're going to get all the new users we expect to see into our system, or precisely what we are doing, for obvious reasons.  No one in the industry is doing what we are attempting to do
Thanks! B
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Offline AdamBLevine

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Hey guys.   

Quick update.....I can assure you we are working around the clock on the marketing campaign.  Just like the many months Dan and the devs were working on BitSharesX - where it seemed like nothing at all was happening, this too isn't as easy (or as fast) as any of us would expect or want it to be.   

The marketing team has been spending nearly every day (and most of the event in Vegas) speaking with "on-ramp" service companies in order to find the best solution for getting USD into BTSX and bitUSD.  We are VERY close, btw, with one of them.  In addition, we are working on an "off-ramp" partner who can provide a bitUSD direct to a prepaid credit card to allow users to get out of bitUSD without needing a normal crypto exchange.  We were hoping to find one company to do both, but no one is able to do both at this time so we have two different sides to develop for this platform. 

On top of both of those partnerships, we're looking for "backup" service providers in the event either one cant handle the volume we intend to push.  We need to tie in the API's on the back end for a seamless experience, build a separate site, finish producing the multiple videos that explain what/how/why of BTSX and bitUSD, and so much more. 

This project is more involved than it may look from the outside, but I can assure you everything is moving forward.  Like Dan, I'm not going to put a specific date on when all this will be completed and the "go" button pushed, but it WILL happen. And when it does, it will be plainly obvious it is a DIRECT result of our efforts.

As for transparency, we are not sharing all the details of how or where we're going to get all the new users we expect to see into our system, or precisely what we are doing, for obvious reasons.  No one in the industry is doing what we are attempting to do - which is the very reason we will have the results no one else is having. 

The team I've assembled is nothing short of top notch and has knocked it out of the park in many other industries.  I have no doubt they'll do the same with us.  We expect a VERY significant increase in new users, as well as capital, into both BTSX and bitUSD, once launched, so our goal is real growth, not "pumping" the value artificially. 

I know many of you are anxious and wanting to see big returns on the of time, money and trust you've placed in BitShares.  I too want all of those things.  We will get there, I have no doubts.  Stay tuned.... The day we launch, I'll make the forum aware of it immediately so you can see exaclty what we've created and send your own friends and contacts through the site, to participate. 

Thanks! B

Brian, you've described bizdev activities or  "business development".  What is the marketing plan?   

Do you think Bizdev (strategic partnerships and personal relationships) and Marketing (messaging) are the same thing?
Email me at adam@letstalkbitcoin.com