Posts by Christopher Lochhead
212 How To Be An Entrepreneur Category Designer With John Spagnola, CEO of Ublendit and Pioneer of the Custom Spirits Category
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Have you ever wondered what it takes to upend one of the oldest categories ever? To create real, radical innovation and do something that almost everyone in the industry said was impossible? If so, you’re going to love this dialogue with our guest, John Spagnola.
In this episode of Follow Your Different, John Spagnola talks about how he redesigned an old category and broke through expectations and preexisting ideas in the Spirits category. He is the epitome of a pirate , dreamer, and innovator.
John Spagnola is the founder of Ublendit, THE pioneer in custom Spirits category. They create custom blended spirits for hotels, bars, nightclubs, and restaurants so they can have their own unique, custom-branded and blended spirits.
Ublendit: Breaking the Fixed Mindset
John talks about Ublendit and how he didn’t want it to be just another spirits company. At the time, the formula for making a spirits company was as follows: You build a brand, market it to distributors, and hopefully get your brand into different establishments through said distributors.
There were those who commented that while John might start out with this completely new idea he had, he’ll eventually move into the same model eventually.
John was having none of it.
“The more I go into it, the more I thought: no, you’re totally wrong. The way you’re thinking about is totally wrong. There are so many angles that we can manipulate here, that you’re not even thinking about.” – John Spagnola
John has always been into trying new things. Creating something that was game-changing and can disrupt the status quo was the dream. He feels fortunate that his investors shared the same views as he did and were willing to take risks.
Going Against the Grain
John further elaborates as to why most spirits companies follow the traditional category model. Eventually, it all boiled down to how big of an investment it can be, that they think it won’t be worth their time. Most of the people who tried having multiple blends end up discarding underperforming ones and just focusing their effort to their best-selling ones.
“I kind of understand where people come from for there, but there’s all these new, different elements that have opened up to allow us to, to be so versatile.” – John Spagnola
John went against the grain and pushed forward with his custom-blended and branded spirits, and have not look back since. Nowadays, there are technologies that allow businesses to blend spirits in smaller scales, much like what Ublendit is doing. Yet John and Ublendit has the distinction of being the trailblazers for the category.
Knowing Your Market
As a Category Designer, one has to do their due diligence and know what you are working with. Otherwise, how can you change a category to something your target audience cares about?
This is exactly what John did by going around and doing research on the target market. He identified what the pain points of various businesses are, and create something new that solves those issues.
After doing his market research, he found two major factors that interest people. The first one was price, because they need to make money. The other one was having custom labels to promote their own brand.
So John got to work in combining these two factors, and a new category was born. As for his clients, they wished Ublendit was created sooner.
“The thing that stuck with me is (he said,) you’re giving me goose for $5. He literally said, I wish that I had found you 10 years ago when I started this company. I was like, well, we weren’t there yet. We didn’t exist yet. He’s like, well, now you have us forever.” – John Spagnola
To hear more from John Spagnola and how to be a legendary category designer, download and listen to this episode.
BIO:
John Spagnola is the CEO of Ublendit, LLC. Ublendit is a pioneer in the custom spirts category. They are the first to create custom spirits for hotels, bars, nightclubs, restaurants and special events.
John is also Managing Partner at Venture Santa Cruz, where they identify new markets to make a difference in and disrupt them.
He’s based in Santa Cruz, CA.
Links:
Website: Ublendit.com
LinkedIn: in/JohnSpagnola
More about John Spagnola and Ublendit
A new blended whiskey draws attention to local bartenders’ secret
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
105 Value is 100% Perception
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In this episode, Christopher Lochhead talks about value, and how it is 100% dependent on people’s perception. That is to say, nothing has any intrinsic value until someone believes it has value.
You can also learn about one of the greatest stories about how an entrepreneur and category designer created value, that is to say, the perception of value for a product that left a lot of people scratching their heads.
Gary’s Pet Rock
Gary Dahl and his pet rock is an amazing study on how people assign value to something based on their perception.
In 1975, Gary Dahl thought it would be funny to sell pet rocks. He never would’ve thought that this funny running gag would sweep the nation, selling roughly 1.5 million pet rocks at $3.95 a pop.
Christopher remembers his sister wanting to join in the fad, so he offered to catch her a pet rock himself.
“I remember this well. I was a kid at the time and my sister wanted one, and I remember exactly what I said at the time: “Well, if you like, I’ll go outside and catch you a wild one.” “- Christopher Lochhead
Was it a weird fad? Probably. Yet it wasn’t the first of its kind, and certainly not the last crazy fad people subscribed to.
Value is in the Perception
While it may seem silly that Gary Dahl managed to sell that many pet rocks, but how he marketed it was nothing short of genius.
He packaged it in a colorful box that even had holes so your pet rock can “breathe”. There was even a comprehensive manual on how you can take care of your pet rock, which just adds to the hilarity of it all.
Basically, Gary Dahl assigned a value to his pet rocks. As a Category Designer and some brilliant marketing, he made people perceive the Pet Rock as something of value. All due to the story he weaved to back it up.
So what does this teach us? For Christopher it means that nothing is intrinsically valuable. That value is 100 percent a perception.
“If you’re a regular listener, you’ve heard me and you’ve heard Jason talking about these new NFTs in the digital space: people selling digital products at extraordinary prices. Jason made the comment that his dad is in the art business and he grew up in that business. In his words, what sells a painting is a story. And so what makes something valuable is that people perceive it as valuable.” – Christopher Lochhead
Creating Value Out of Nothing
Legendary category designers are legendary because they create new perceptions of value. They establish the belief that something is valuable when that belief did not exist before.
So as category designers, the challenge is to change people’s perception about your product or services. If you are successful, you can create something valuable… out of nothing.
Bio
Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger.
He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur.
Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist.
In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion.
He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive.We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.
211 How A Grandfather Survived The Holocaust, And A Grandson Became An Entrepreneur with Daniel Gefen
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In Hebrew, the name “Mosha” means “Salvation”. That was the name of a 13-year-old boy who was forced into a Nazi concentration camp, and spent the next five years in 18 more. Yet somehow, he lived.
In this episode of Follow Your Different, Daniel Gefen shares a real, raw dialogue about his grandfather Mosha, and how he has influenced Daniel’s life and his drive to become a podcasting entrepreneur.
You’ll also hear about how Daniel embraces faith, family, and philosophy to guide his life, and how he turns frustration into fascination.
Mosha, the Survivor
Daniel shares the story of his grandfather, Mosha. Mosha was a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. He was shot, buried alive, and hanged twice, yet he somehow managed to live on.
After the war, Mosha fled to Switzerland. He had no money, no connections, and couldn’t even speak the language. While all he had was himself, he made full use of his talents. He built a farm by himself, and continued to build himself up until he had his own hotel business.
Yet even as a multimillionaire hotel owner, Mosha had always strived to live a simpler life. All his focus was on how he could help others be happy.
“The reason he opened the hotel wasn’t to make money. The reason he opened the hotel was because he wanted to serve people. That’s how he lived his life. He lived in a very small little apartment above the hotel his whole life, didn’t drive a car, and gave away pretty much almost all of his money to charities.” – Daniel Gefen
Giving Voice to Others through Podcasting
Daniel talks about how the more recent generations have become too focused on themselves. While it’s not a bad thing to have some self-love, being too wrapped up with oneself can narrow one’s view.
Sometimes, focusing outwardly and living for something or someone else can give you a higher purpose. For Daniel, it was giving voice to those who have long yearned to share their stories through his podcasts.
“I kind of feel like my career is all about giving people exposure right through podcasting. My whole career is all about giving people the opportunity to promote and share their stories and get themselves out there on the biggest podcast. Ironically, I feel like I’m doing something that my grandfather couldn’t do.” – Daniel Gefen
Don’t Lock Yourself in a Should Prison
Daniel describes how his grandfather’s past trauma has also affected future generations of the family. One of the affected parties is his father and Daniel’s relationship with him growing up.
Yet he doesn’t blame his grandfather nor his father for it. Instead of letting things stay as it is, Daniel strived to reach out and build a strong connection with his father.
Rather than focusing on what other people should do, Daniel decided to focus on what he could do for them. He also learned to choose what’s best given the situation, rather than hoping for that perfect ending.
“I have a mentor, a rabbi, who many times has said to me, “You know, do you want to be right? Or do you want to be happy? You can’t always have both. Sometimes you can. But a lot of times, you cannot have both. So what do you want? You get to choose.” ” – Daniel Gefen
To hear more from Daniel Gefen and on how his grandfather inspired him to be an entrepreneur, download and listen to this episode.
Bio:
Daniel Gefen is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Gefen Media Group – a podcast production and booking agency helping clients build a loyal following through the power of podcasting. He is also the host of the top-rated podcast show called ‘Can I Pick Your Brain?’ which has exceeded over 150,000 downloads and was named top 26 podcasts to listen to by CIO Magazine. He has interviewed over 100 thought leaders, Billionaires and celebrities.
In 2017, he was named one of the top 25 most influential influencers and has been featured in dozens of media publications including Forbes Inc, CIO, Influencive, Success Radio and over 70 leading podcasts.
Daniel lives with his wife Lorren and 4 children in the hills of Bet Shemesh, Israel.
You can listen to his show by searching for ‘Can I Pick Your Brain?’ on iTunes or other podcast platforms.
Links:
Website: Gefen Media Group
Get Booked: Podbooker.com
LinkedIn: in/GefenMedia
Amazon Books: The Self Help Addict
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
210 How To Build a Business That Makes Money And A Difference with Gero Leson of Dr. Bronner’s
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Most leaders want to build a legendary business and be socially and environmentally responsible at the same time. Sadly, many get caught in a false dilemma between doing good in business and doing good in the world. In spite of that, there are companies that strive to do both and continue to prosper to this day.
In this episode of Follow Your Different, Dr. Gero Leson shares how Dr. Bronner’s has become the pioneer in the global movement to establish socially just and environmentally responsible supply chains. So if you care about building a long term, successful business that dominates its niche and makes a giant difference in the world, you’re going to love everything about this conversation.
Having an Impact on the World
If you’re looking for a company that has an impact on the world, look no further than Dr. Bronner’s. They have spent 70 years showing everyone that you don’t have to choose just one to maintain good growth. They back up this claim by ranking as the second highest scoring B Corp in the world.
Dr. Gero Leson attributes this success to having an authentic brand and being consistent about it all these years. He believes that the causes they address speak to the general public, particularly to people who advocate saving the planet.
“There are many other things. Of course, it’s the quality of our product, no doubt. But I think it’s also the messaging and then the action (we take). It’s what we do to have an impact beyond just making soap. I think that package speaks to people, and we have a fantastic team that’s all driven by the same vision.” – Dr. Gero Leson
Standing the Test of Time
Dr. Gero shares his thoughts on how Dr. Bronner’s is still relevant after all these years. Despite having new ideas and products launched, they have stayed true to their desire to have more natural and sustainable products and ingredients in the market.
As for their sustained growth, Dr. Gero explains that they don’t focus on it. He knows it sounds like a cliché, but that mindset helped them explore new ideas that others would find risky.
“This is not about cashing out, getting a few millions in the bank and then retire and just sit on the board of philanthropic organizations. The Bronners’ and most of our executive team just love being able to make decisions and bring about change, and that drives me alive. This is the biggest fun ever. I could retire, but that would be so boring. It’s just so much fun to use your business to bring about change, honestly.” – Dr. Gero Leson
Precision and Creativity
Nowadays, it is normal to have your Executive offices and your production line separate. Yet for the longest time, Dr. Bronner’s has kept it all in one place. This leads to a unique contrast of seeing everything work with exact precision, but in an environment driven by everyone’s creativity and individuality.
“It is really fun to watch normal people respond to this. I sometimes bring in the chiefs of our projects and they’re very normal people. They come there and they say, “Huh, there’s a very interesting, great atmosphere here”. Its a very unique contrast of normality, efficiency, planning and at the same time, you have wildness and independence driving.” – Dr. Gero Leson
To hear more from Dr. Gero Leson and his thoughts on building a business that thrives while making a difference, download and listen to this episode.
Bio:
DR. GERO LESON is Vice President of Special Operations at Dr. Bronner’s, the top-selling brand of natural soaps in North America.
After joining the company in 2005, he helped it transition to sourcing all its major ingredients directly from certified fair trade and organic projects.
Under his leadership, Dr. Bronner’s has become a pioneer in the global movement to establish socially just and environmentally responsible supply chains.
Leson speaks regularly on business, sustainability, fair trade, and regenerative agriculture. He lives in Berkeley, California.
Links
Website: DrBronner.com
Facebook: fb/DrBronner
Instagram: @DrBronner
Twitter: @DrBronner
Get the Book: Honor Thy Label
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
104 Languaging: How Category Designers Use Language to Change the Future
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In this episode, Christopher Lochhead talks about language. Specifically, a concept that most entrepreneurs and marketers don’t know much about: Languaging.
Languaging and Creating Context
Languaging is the strategic use of words and language to change and create the future.
As any category designer worth their salt should know, how you frame a category could make or break them. Having a great context for your category is a must if you want to be ahead of the pack.
What better way to add a strategic context than to use statements that will make customers relate to your category. If you do it right, even just one sentence can propel you to the top.
Language and Differentiation
Christopher uses MP3s and Apple iPods to make his point. In the early 2000s, MP3 players had already been in the market for almost half a decade. Yet a lot of people were not using them, and a bigger portion of the population doesn’t even know what it was.
So when Apple launched the iPod in 2001, they had to find a way to get people to switch from their Walkmans to their new product.
To do this, Apple used strategic languaging to distinguish iPod from other MP3 players by calling it a digital music player. That’s differentiation.
To drive it all home, they have this one-sentence slogan that resonates with consumers.
One thousand songs in your pocket.
On his first Apple iPod press release, Steve Jobs made it very, very clear that Apple was absolutely designing a new category with its new product. It wasn’t just another MP3 player. He said:
“With iPod Apple has reinvented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go. With iPod listening to music will never be the same again.” – Steve Jobs
Apple redesigned the category and ran away with it by putting the technology in a context people could understand.
Frame it and Name it
It is important to note that language we use to describe something changes the thing, the way people see and value the thing.
So what does this mean for category designers? Legendary category designers frame it and name it. Legendary category designers can and do change the future with one sentence.
If you start listening for languaging, which you could think of as the strategic use of words and language to change thinking, you’ll start to notice it more often.
“Remember, a demarcation point in language creates a demarcation point in thinking which creates a demarcation point in perceived value, and action.” – Christopher Lochhead
Bio
Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger.
He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur.
Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist.
In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion.
He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.
209 How To Live A Creative Life w/ Nasri: Grammy-Award Winning Artist, Producer, and Collaborator with John Legend, Robin Thicke, Shakira & more
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Most people would like to be more creative, and some would like to make a living with their creativity. Though without legendary role models, particularly those who are willing to get real and go deep about their experience, it’s hard to learn what it really takes. In today’s dialogue with Nasri, you’re going to learn about it and a lot more.
In this episode of Follow Your Different, it is all about Nasri. His music has been streamed over 4 billion times to date. He’s a Grammy Award winning songwriter, producer, and singer who’s worked with literally the biggest names in music today. Nasri has won a Grammy Award for his works, including Best Latin Pop Album for his work with Shakira on her record Eldorado in 2017, and Best R&B album for his work on Chris Brown’s F.A.M.E. record.
His band Magic! released three successful chart-topping albums with RCA Records, and he’s probably best known for their international smash hit “Rude”. He also just released a brand-new EP, a solo EP called “Here for You” to much critical acclaim.
This is also Nasri’s first podcast experience, so join him and Christopher as they discuss Grammys, working with great musicians, and how to live a creative life.
On Nasri Winning the Grammys
Christopher starts off with the big one, and asks what it was like winning the Grammys. Nasri shares his thoughts on collaborating with a lot of talented artists and producers in the industry, and the experience of creating Grammy Award-winning songs.
He also adds that nowadays, producing music is different than before. It’s normal to see five or more people being credited in one song, and that’s okay. All of it is necessary to create great music. Though it is understandable why some might be confused when they see multiple names in the credits.
“Now when you make music, everybody has a little piece of everything. It’s kind of confusing when you see four or five names on a credit, or even seven or eight, nine names on a credit of a song. It’s confusing to the audience to like “Seven people wrote this song?” No, seven people didn’t write the song. Two or three people wrote the song, and then it goes through a process of like, “hey, let’s team up with this sound designer”, and they also want a piece of the publishing.” – Nasri
On Creatives Self-Producing
Christopher brings up his experience on publications, and on why he chose to self-publish later on. Nasri agrees with the sentiment, and points out that it’s not a bad idea to work with a company first before trying to publish or produce on your own. At the very least, you’ll get some much-needed experience from them first and commit less mistakes when you are on our own afterwards.
“I think the beginning stages, if you look at why you may need a publisher, it has made me learn a couple things, you know. To see kind of what the scope of marketing for this medium is, and that’s what I went through. In the band Magic!, we were signed to RCA Records, and I was like, “Okay, cool.” When I went now to make my solo project, I felt like I had a pretty good grip of how to market something.” – Nasri
He’s also glad that he got into self-production. He talks about how he’s not on other people’s clock but his own, and he take his time and perfect his craft.
“I’m in no rush. I own the master. I have nobody telling me in some sort of meeting that is not moving fast enough. That’s (part of) what I didn’t like.” – Nasri
Nasri’s New EP
Speaking of producing something, Nasri recently released his new EP, “Here For You”. Nasri talks about how it came to be, and how much fun it was to create. He also got into the finer details and how happy he is with its reception.
“So all of a sudden, this whole thing just came together through us just being passionate about it. And some of the stories that in all the years of him making music, this is one of the first times that his wife has actually listened to the music on repeat, you know? Because generally, a lot of the stuff we make our wives are like, yeah, another pop song. They’ll listen to it once or twice and be like, “okay, cool”. But now, we went in and made some real music.” – Nasri
To hear more about Nasri and his thoughts on creating great music on his first-ever podcast, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Nasri
With over 4 billion streams to his name, Grammy-winning artist/producer Nasri Atweh has solidified himself as a certified hitmaker.
Lending his songwriting talents for artists including Justin Bieber, Halsey, Robin Thicke, Usher, John Legend, Skip Marley, H.E.R., Chloe x Halle and many more, Nasri has proven his ability to bring the best out of the artists with whom he works and elevate their art to a whole new level.
Nasri was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, and began singing at age 6. In 2002, Nasri won the John Lennon songwriting contest with a song he wrote with one of his closest collaborators, Adam Messinger.
Following this, Nasri and Adam then formed the production duo called “The Messengers.”
Together, they helped drive the reunion of New Kids on the Block and wrote hits for Christina Aguilera, David Guetta, Cody Simpson, Jason Derulo, and many more. Nasri and Adam were nominated for two Grammys in 2011 for their work on Justin Bieber’s My World 2.0andChris Brown’s Graffiti and the duo won the Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2012 for their work on Chris Brown’s F.A.M.E.
Additionally, Nasri won the Grammy award for Best Latin Pop Album for his work on Shakira’s El Dorado in 2017.
In 2013, Nasri took a step out from behind the curtain as the front man of MAGIC!
The band released their highly successful debut song “Rude” which topped the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom. MAGIC! has gone on to release three albums with RCA Records: Don’t Kill the Magic (2013), Primary Colours (2016), and Expectations (2018). Today, Nasri continues to work with music’s top talents. In 2020, albums he worked on received multiple Grammy Awards including Best Pop Vocal Album (Justin Bieber – Changes), Best R&B Song (Skip Marley ft. H.E.R. – “Slow Down”), Best Reggae Album (Skip Marley – Higher Ground), Best R&B Album (John Legend – Bigger Love) and Best Progressive R&B Album (Chloe x Halle – Ungodly Hour).
Links
Follow Nasri today!
Twitter: @NasriWorld
Instagram: @NasriAtweh
YouTube: @NasriAtweh
Learn more about Nasri!
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
103 Digital Products, NFTs, Clubhouse, Oh My with Jason DeFillippo
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In the last episode, Christopher popped the hood on digital products, more specifically about NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens. As you may know, a 10-second GIF recently just sold for $6.6M. This was due to NFTs.
Now, there are other companies and celebrities jumping in on it. Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, is now auctioning off the first tweet for $2.5M, as of this taping. Rock band Kings of Leon is set to be the first band releasing a record as an NFT. These cyber collectibles are taking off and having a profound impact.
Yet our producer, Jason DeFillippo, has some questions. Jason is the greatest of all time in podcast producers, and he’s worked with Tim Ferriss, Jordan Harbinger and many others. He also hosts one of the greatest podcasts ever, Grumpy Old Geeks. He also has a lot of experience in the art world, as he worked with his dad for a long time. Jason has an opinion about NFTs, and he and Christopher talk about that, Clubhouse, and a bunch of other fun things.
Digital Products have been Here Forever
Jason DeFillippo comments about Christopher’s statement about digital products and NFTs being a category-defining moment. For someone who has played online games like Jason, digital products have been around since the early 2000s. People have been buying and selling digital items to use in-game, and there’s even a whole industry built on farming in-game currency for it.
As for NFTs, Jason doesn’t see the purpose to all of it other than being a rich man’s game. It’s like buying a pet rock, but at least with the pet rock you get a rock for your troubles.
“We had this kind of shit back in the day, 10 years ago, and we would buy digital items, we would buy digital clothes, we would mine gold. It was Bitcoin before there was Bitcoin, and it was just a bunch of nerds sitting around killing orcs. There was a purpose to the NF T’s back then, because it was all in-game. Now we have all of the crap that you know was the digital stuff, but no game to play. Today’s NF T is one of those things that to somebody like myself with a highly tuned bullshit detector made my head explode.” – Jason DeFilliippo
On Digital Natives Buying Digital Products
Christopher asks if it makes sense that native digital people are buying more digital products than physical ones. Jason thinks it is, but it again depends on the purpose of the purchase. It depends on the context of why they bought the item, either to make their digital home look better, or have the best weapon for a game they’re playing.
Again, NFTs miss the mark in this regard. Jason thinks that this $6.6M purchase just got overhyped because people are looking for excitement. That, and because it is attached to blockchain. So people who are looking for the next big thing are suddenly scrambling to see if NFTs fit the bill. According to Jason, it doesn’t.
“That’s the problem with it. It doesn’t make any sense. I think it’s a fad. This has all of the hallmarks of us being stuck inside for far too long. We need something to excite us. It’s on the blockchain. You know, if they could just sprinkle in some AI, we would have like a BS trifecta here.” – Jason DeFillippo
Why is Clubhouse a Thing?
Christopher and Jason discuss the app Clubhouse, and why it’s even a thing. For one thing, the features it has is already present in various other apps, like Discord and other online voice chat software. What makes it weirder is that it is trying to bring back the feeling of radio, something that podcasts have killed a long time ago.
The appeal to some comes from the fact that it is invite-only. Though that in itself is not a unique feature, as Jason points out. There are a lot of apps that can just integrate such features into their own well-established ones. It’s why Jason thinks that Clubhouse will come to a quick demise soon.
“My buddy John Wall of Marketing Over Coffee was quick to point out that as a creator, there’s no value here. First of all, I got to be Live. So it’s just like radio. Instead of podcasting, where we do it now and release it later, you got to be live. So as a creator, you’re fucked on that. So you have to be there, you have to do a radio show, and as a user you have to be there for that specific time.” – Christopher Lochhead
“I’ve been invited to like two dozen clubhouse chats. I’m like, it’s 3:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday, I have a job. They want to do it at like 10:30 at night, I’m like, I gotta sleep. It doesn’t make any sense.
The other side is there’s no discoverability, finding a room is terribly hard, and the audio quality sucks. They say you’re not allowed to record it, but everybody records it. And you know, there’s, there’s so many things wrong with it, it’s hard to begin to figure out where the most wrong thing is wrong with it” – Jason DeFillippo
To hear more about Christopher and Jason’s thoughts on digital products, NFTs, and Clubhouse, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Jason DeFillippo
Jason has been building websites since the early days in 1994 for clients that range from small businesses to million-dollar websites for blockbuster films to his own start-ups.
In 1995 a new media company in Santa Monica moved him out to Los Angeles to build the first website for Epson America.
Since then, Jason has launched over 250 websites for major corporations like Paramount Pictures, Sony, Warner Brothers, and Disney.
He also created the two-time SXSW Weblog Award-winning Blogrolling.com as well as co-founded the global blog network Metroblogging.
He has worked at several startups in San Francisco including Technorati.com and 8020 Media, the publishers of JPGMagazine.com and statistical aggregator Metricly.com.
Currently, Jason is a full-time podcast producer and editor.
Links
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.
208 The Power of Ethics with Bestselling Author Dr. Susan Liautaud
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Nowadays, people live at a time when discerning what’s right and wrong is getting more complex. As your choices can have profound, long term implications, it’s best to know where your moral compass lies.
In this episode of Follow Your Different, Dr. Susan Liautaud talks about Ethics and why it is more than just common sense. She explains why it matters more today, and how to apply an Ethics lens to critical areas of society. This is a fascinating conversation that will matter to anyone who cares about making the world a different place.
Dr. Susan Liautaud is the author of the new bestseller, The Power of Ethics: How to Make Good Choices in a Complicated World. She is an Ethics Advisor to major corporations and institutions, and also teaches Ethics at Stanford. She serves as Chair of the London School of Economics and Political Science Council.
Why Ethics is Not Common Sense
It used to be that people grew up on stories that gave examples of what’s right and wrong. Everything seemed black and white, and the lines in the sand were clear. In today’s world, where information is but a touch of a screen away, these lines have seemingly been blurred.
Dr. Susan Liautaud uses media platforms like Facebook or Twitter as examples for this. On one hand, it serves as a tool to connect people together and have lively conversations. On the other hand, there are some that use it to bully people and spread misinformation.
“In today’s world, you know, good and bad are all mixed. We are in this gray zone and things that can be used for the good like social media. Yet they can also be used for harm, like bullying on social media or spread of disinformation. So I think largely because the world has just gotten so complicated and technology and all the forces driving it aren’t really common sense for a lot of people.” – Dr. Susan Liautaud
The World is Changing so Fast
Christopher shares that for him, changing your opinion on something is not a bad thing. It means that you are open to new ideas and correcting your own.
“If you haven’t changed your mind lately, how do you know you have one?” – Christopher Lochhead
Dr. Susan agrees with this sentiment, and describes that Ethics can be the same way. The things we find ethical or otherwise can be flipped due to recent events or newly-available information. For her, it’s better to be in-the-know rather than to always stick with the old ways.
“I think one of the things about ethics that’s different today is that the world is changing so fast. The complexity I referred to earlier is evolving so quickly that we need to be monitoring, instead of holding our nose and leaping into a decision and being sure that we’re absolutely right. So I don’t call it flip flopping. I call it staying grounded in reality.” – Dr. Susan Liautaud
Finding Non-Binary Solutions
As more people get access to information and the lines between black and white get even more blurred, people’s definition of Ethics changes even further. For Dr. Susan, this is not a bad thing. Her main concern lies with people still looking for binary solutions to solve ethical problems.
Dr. Susan explains how people can get stuck behind a yes or no mindset for different situations, which limits their thinking to binary solutions. She elaborates further by using Christopher’s foil board example:
“What I would say is, can’t we find a solution that is non-binary, other than you can’t foil board on a public beach. Maybe you can foil board at certain times of day, in a place where there are only foil boarders who are willing to put themselves at that risk. We get ourselves into this Yes, No, black, white, one side of the wall or the other binary thinking, and we never get to seizing opportunity and mitigating risk.” – Dr. Susan Liautaud
To know more about Dr. Susan Liautaud and how Ethics is not common sense in some companies, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Dr. Susan Liautaud teaches cutting-edge ethics at Stanford University and serves as Chair of the Council (trustees) at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
She advises corporations, NGOs, and governmental bodies and their leaders on internationally complex ethics matters and is the Founder of the Ethics Incubator.
Links
Follow Dr. Susan Liautaud here!
Linkedin: in/SusanLiautaudJDPHD
Twitter: @SusanLiautaud
Stanford profile: Dr. Susan Liautaud
Find out more about Dr. Susan Liautaud in these articles:
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on iTunes!
102 The Future Just Changed and Most People Missed It
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In October 2020, a 10-second video clip sold for $67,000. Just recently, that same 10-second video sold for $6.6 Million. This selling of a piece of digital art changed the future… and most people didn’t even notice.
This new category design could have profound implications in the art world of art – and soon, everywhere else! So in this episode, Christopher Lochhead talks about digital-exclusive products, how it can be the next mega-category, and how it can affect your business and brand in the future.
Prioritizing Your “Real Life”
As the age of digitization continues to evolve, people find themselves becoming more invested in their digital life. If you’re between thirty or thirty-five, you’re probably a digital native. Everyone below that are definitely digital natives: those who spend most of their time online and connected digitally.
The big AHA moment here for Christopher is that digital natives prioritize their digital life more than their physical life. It is almost as if their digital life is their “real life”, therefore it has more value for them.
“If you’re a digital native, the AHA here is your digital life is more important than your physical life. If you’re a digital native, you’re having the opposite experience that someone like me. Someone who believes my primary experience in life is a physical one, but it’s supplemented with a rich digital life. But if you’re my buddies and their kids, your real life is the digital life and the ocean and the sunset are an interruption to your real life. That was a profound moment for me. I understood at that moment the difference between digital natives and non-digital natives were 180 degrees different.” – Christopher Lochhead
Digital-Exclusive Products as a Mega Category
Digital products have been around for quite some time. There are games that sell digital clothes to make your avatar look good or play better. However, this 10-second digital media clip that sold for $6.6 million dollars in an NFTE auction classifies as category design.
This new art category design is changing the definition of the category of what it means to be an artist and what a piece of art means in the digital age. Art is now a new digital category; it’s not only physical anymore. Who’s to say that other products won’t follow suit in the future?
“In the past, people would pay six point six million dollars for a painting, not a bunch of zeros and ones. This is a way bigger development than somebody paying a few dollars to buy a digital tractor or a rifle in a video game. Someone paid over six fucking million dollars for some zeros and ones, and those zeros and ones are artificially being restricted. In this case, they paid that money so they’d be the only people in the world to have those zeros and ones.” – Christopher Lochhead
All of these circle back to digital natives and how they prioritize things. It is why you see people being reluctant to buy a car but willingly fork over money for a digital vehicle in an app. They want to live out their best lives in their perceived “real life”.
“If you’re a digital native, your digital life by default is more important and more valuable to you than your physical life. If that’s true, it stands to reason that digital native’s want to buy shit for their digital native selves and they’ll buy things in their digital world that they wouldn’t buy in their physical world.” – Christopher Lochhead
Should You Ride the Digital Wave?
So what does that mean for companies and their corresponding categories and brands? Well, if you want to stay ahead of the pack, you need to step back and think about the increasing role of people’s digital lives in the market. Especially in the new marketing landscape that COVID has wrought, where people live in a digital workplace in a way that they didn’t before.
“I think we have to ask ourselves: is there an opportunity and or threat for our categories, brands and businesses in a world where people’s digital life is their primary experience and their physical life is their secondary experience?” – Christopher Lochhead
To know more on digital-exclusive products as a new mega-category, download and listen to this episode.
Bio
Christopher Lochhead is a #1 Apple podcaster and #1 Amazon bestselling co-author of books: Niche Down and Play Bigger.
He has been an advisor to over 50 venture-backed startups; a former three-time Silicon Valley public company CMO and an entrepreneur.
Furthermore, he has been called “one of the best minds in marketing” by The Marketing Journal, a “Human Exclamation Point” by Fast Company, a “quasar” by NBA legend Bill Walton and “off-putting to some” by The Economist.
In addition, he served as a chief marketing officer of software juggernaut Mercury Interactive. Hewlett-Packard acquired the company in 2006, for $4.5 billion.
He also co-founded the marketing consulting firm LOCHHEAD; the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive.
We hope you enjoyed this episode of Lochhead on Marketing™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and subscribe on Apple Podcast! You may also subscribe to his newsletter, The Difference, for some amazing content.
