Lochhead on Marketing
089 The Future Needs You
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Just because it turned January 1st and we’re into a new year doesn’t mean anything is going to change unless people make it change. We are all in a cocoon time and it means that we, as marketers, entrepreneurs and category designers can design the future of our choosing.
The Future Is Not Like The Weather
Christopher poses his observation on some people and how they comment about the future. Some people wish to have a better 2021 but do not think about who is responsible for positive change to happen.
“I think it’s important to underscore that the future does not just happen. It’s not like the weather. People make things happen. The seminal question for all of us is: what kind of future do we want to design?” – Christopher Lochhead
The Future, From A Business Perspective
Christopher thinks, from a business perspective, that most definitely someone from your category is doing something. They may be working on or beginning to implement something to get to a different future.
“Someone in your category is examining new business models and ideas, new emerging technologies, new product strategies, looking at problems in new and different ways. As a result, discovering potential to either redesign your category or launch a new adjacent category that could change the game dramatically in your space.” – Christopher Lochhead
The Future, Designed By Legends
In this episode, Christopher cites some noteworthy, legendary entrepreneurs who did massive actions to design their future. He cites Allie Haverstraw, who did extraordinary efforts to help small businesses. He also talks about Eric Jorgensen’s legendary story of triumph over extraordinary despair. Lastly, he talks about the main man of 2021 himself, Eric Yuan of Zoom Technologies.
“What do I hope you take from examples? This, now, is our time. Those of us who are in a position to make a difference, can make a giant difference because the future needs you, regardless of how you can make a difference. Now is the time in spite of all of the misery that many of us, myself included have been through over the last year or so. I say there’s never been a greater time to design the future of our choosing.” – Christopher Lochhead
To know more about why the future needs you, 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; was 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.
Year End Message From Christopher
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This is Christopher and I just wanted to take a little moment to share a couple quick things with you.
First, just big thank you. Thank you for making me and our entire team part of your 2020.
The second thing, I know it’s been a horrible year for many of us, for me and my family, it’s been the most horrible year of all.
I also want you to know that I thought about quitting a lot this year, both podcasting and writing. Knowing that you were there, if you sent email or tweets or LinkedIn messages or just knowing you were there, has made a big difference.
I didn’t know (when I started writing and podcasting) how much the friendships that I would develop with our listeners and readers would mean to me. Even if we’ve never met or exchanged a message, I just want you to know how much I appreciate you.
Thank you because for the last 15 months, it’s really been the worst time of my life. Having you with me has made a giant difference. I know you being there has made a giant difference to our entire team. So thank you so much.
I also wanted to share a little piece that I put on social media, for those of you who might have lost someone. So I’ll just read that to you quickly.
If you have an empty chair, this holiday, I’m truly sorry. If you have an empty chair, this holiday, please know that your family does not cry alone. And if you do not have an empty chair this holiday, please remember to tell your friends and family how much you love them.
In times like these, it really calls for inspiration and who better to turn to than Winston Churchill. So I thought I’d share this quote with you.
If you will, as a toast to 2021, without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning.
So I’m going to grab hold of this Macallan 12. I have a little squirt and say, thank you. Bless you. Here’s to 2021.
088 What Kind of Human You Are Determines What Kind of Marketer You Are
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Steven Kotler has written one of the most important books of 202, The Art of the Impossible. One of the things discussed in the book is human evolutionary motivations. As a result, Christopher believes Steven has uncovered a key learning point for marketers, entrepreneurs and category designers. That is: the kind of human you are determines what kind of marketer and category designer you are.
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; was 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.
087 Marketing is what you do when you have a shitty product, right?
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“Marketing is what you do when you have a shitty product.”
Says an ex-CEO/Software Engineer who found himself wrapping his company around the lamppost, with his entire executive team leaving, and his investors getting f*cked up. In spite of many stories like this, there are still a lot of people in Silicon Valley (and in the business world in general) who believe the best product wins and that marketing isn’t worth very much.
So in this episode, we dig into a research project involving one of the world’s greatest violin players and the Washington post. They prove that the power of category design and marketing is actually, almost everything
Everything Else is Bullsh*t
Most CEOs believe the best product wins. In fact, the CEO we previously mentioned also told Christopher “we make shit and we sell shit and everything else is bullshit.” Christopher narrates his personal experiences with various non-believers of the power of marketing and the importance of category design.
The Social Experiment
In 2007, legendary violinist Joshua Bell partnered with two time Pulitzer prize writer, Gean Weingarten of the Washington Post. The premise is Bell would play in Washington D.C. Metro Station and Weingarten would film and analyze what will happen.
This was an experiment about context, perception and priorities.
“Here’s what you need to know about Joshua Bell.. He has been called an internationally acclaimed virtuoso. Joshua regularly plays to massive sold-out crowds. Audiences hang on his every note. When he plays the violin, he tends to make a thousand dollars a minute.” – Christopher Lochhead
The Results of the Experiment
Bell played with his handcrafted $14 million violin. Weingarten wanted to know if people will be moved by the music of this master? If they were, how would they value the music that he was making? The results will shock you.
“The perception of your product or service is your product or service. Joshua plays and get paid a thousand dollars a minute because they’ve been told that he’s legendary. When people aren’t told that he’s legendary, hardly anybody gives a shit. So as marketers and category designers, we must never forget. We are in the perception, manufacturing business.” – Christopher Lochhead
To know more if marketing is what you do when you have a shitty product, 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; was 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.
086 Are You Wasting Your Career?
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According to the January 2018 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average person changes jobs 10 to 15 times within their career. If you take it from that perspective, if you’re 25 years old and you are serious in your career, you still get seven chances to do something legendary in your career before you hit the big 6-0.
So in today’s episode, we ask, are you wasting your career?
Make Every Career Count
You get a very few chances to do something legendary, so make them count. Mike Maples of podcast Starting Greatness says “start or join a company worthy of your talent.” Christopher adds that a lot of people make the mistake of trying to sell themselves to a company, instead of you evaluating the potential of a company.
“Most people look at this backwards. They look at things like the salary, title, who their boss is going to be, the health care plan, vacation time, the commute. I’m not saying all those things aren’t important. They are important. I would start or suggest you start to look, ‘is this company. designing and dominating a giant space?’” – Christopher Lochhead
Work For Category Queens
Choose the best and the pioneers in their own space. That’s how you can make money out of your career. First, you get the job security and assurance that the company is here to stay. Secondly, most companies offer stock option for long term employees, which enables you to build wealth.
“You have to ask yourself, is this company, the leadership, the founder, the CEO, the CMO, the head of sales, the head of engineering —do they have what it takes to design a legendary product company and category at the same time and become the category queen?” – Christopher Lochhead
Find Ways To Earn Horizontally
Wise people take a job where they are getting paid to work and they convert that cash into investments. Over time they build a real nest egg. Christopher believes that it is important to find a career that enables you to gain investment opportunities. These investments can later on earn passive income for you.
“Convert sweat for cash into an investment that sweats for you.” – Christopher Lochhead
To know more if you are wasting your career, 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; was 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.
085 Justice Deposits: How NetFlix, Twitter & Costco Are Leading Conscious Capital & You Can Too
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In June of 2020, Netflix announced that it was moving 2% of its cash equal to about $100 million to bolster black owned and black run banks, allowing these banks to lend more. The way this works is pretty simple: when we make deposits in a bank, that allows them to make more loans. More and more corporations and nonprofits are jumping in to join the movement.
In this episode, let’s go deep on the power of justice deposits.
Corporations Joining The Movement
After NetFlix’s announcement, Twitter announced its plan to move 1% of its cash or 100 million to community development financial institutions. Costco has pledged to move $25 million in deposits, Biogen has pledged to move 10 million and PayPal announced plans to move 500 million.
“The early adopters in this movement—the justice deposits—have pledged to move nearly $800 million. That is nearly equal to 20% of the current total assets held today in black owned and black run banks.” – Christopher Lochhead
Address The Root Cause of Inequality
Justice deposits inject capital into banks to banks to allow more Black Americans and minorities to gain access to capital. Aside from this, Christopher discusses on this episode why this is a very savvy marketing move. In fact, according to Harvard Business Review, 60% of Americans say that brands should take steps to address the root cause of racial inequality. It turns out, 50% of Americans go further and say brands must actually educate the public about this matter.
“There can be no equality in America without equal access to capital.” – Christopher Lochhead
HBR Article About Justice Deposits
This episode is a companion of a recent article in Harvard Business Review: “Could Gen Z Consumer Behavior Make Capitalism More Ethical?” It’s a very eye-opening article that we encourage you to read as well. Christopher, together with Eddie Yoon, Pastor Dave Ferguson and Pastor Quentin M. Mumphery collaborated on this research piece.
“What I think this means for CEOs, CMOS and even CFOs, is we need to pay attention. The Next Generation really cares about this stuff. And it’s very clear to me, and I think it should be clear to all of us that every company today needs what you could call a conscious capital strategy.” – Christopher Lochhead
To know more about justice deposits, 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; was the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive.
Links:
Netflix Moves $100 Million in Deposits to Bolster Black Banks
Twitter will invest $100 million in lenders promoting racial equality
Consumers Want Brands to Take a Moral Stand on Racial Justice
Could Gen Z Consumer Behavior Make Capitalism More Ethical?
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.
084 Creating a Category? Do NOT listen to customers
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In this episode, let’s talk about why, when you’re designing a new category, you need to be very careful who you listen to. Often times, listening to customers is the worst thing you can do.
Whose Feedback Matters?
Christopher shares one of the things that they discussed in their book Play Bigger, that new categories are often only obvious in hindsight. He further advises that if you’re designing a new category, it’s critical to be very, very careful whose feedback you listen to.
“You don’t never forget. Nobody wanted a horseless carriage, never forget.” – Christopher Lochhead
Breakthrough in Hindsight
We should not listen to customers and most people, when we’re designing a breakthrough because most people can’t see it. Now, when you’re doing incremental things, customer feedback is awesome. But in general, most people cannot see a breakthrough, whether they’re customers, partners, potential employees, or even potential investors.
“You want to talk about your new category in the early stages with people who can engage in what you might think the art of the possible with you.” – Christopher Lochhead
To know more why you should not listen to customers when creating a legendary 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; was 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.
083 The Problem With Your Marketing Plan
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On this episode, let’s talk about what the problem with your marketing plan might be in specifically three areas. Number one, calling it a “plan” might be a problem. Number two, it’s actually a legendary marketing plan that is about more than just marketing. Lastly, number three, your relationship with your CFO and finance team might be a problem, but I’m hoping it won’t be when we’re done.Create A Marketing Framework
Chris describes what a “plan” entails and how an actual marketing plan should be fluid and should be consistently open for changes and adjustments. He suggests calling it more of a “framework” than a plan. Lastly, he gave some important valuable points on which marketing activities to invest on.“So as you start thinking about planning and budgeting, put things into big buckets, but assume change. That’s why calling it a framework might be a more powerful thing.” – Christopher Lochhead
Involving Everyone On The Team
A marketing plan (or framework) is more than just marketing. Chris describes how you should have a valuable relationship with the Head of Product or Engineering and Finance in plotting your plans for the company.“Drive a highly cross functional process with the team, interacting with marketing, sales, finance, customer support, and potentially other organizations to gather their input.” – Christopher Lochhead
Develop a Relationship With The CFO
Collaboration with other executives within your firm is very important in executing your marketing framework. Chris shares first hand experience as a CMO and how he developed a relationship with their CFO. He has some significant tips on how to adjust marketing investments that ultimately benefit Finance.“If you work well with your CFO, marketing can be a place to park cash.” – Christopher LochheadTo know more about the problem with your marketing plan, 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; was 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.082 How Category Designers Do Acquisitions: Why Salesforce/Slack Is a Savvy Deal
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Most people look at acquisitions through a spreadsheet lens. Of course the financials matter for mergers and acquisition deals, but when viewed through a category design lens, acquisitions look very, very different. In this episode, we break down the differences using the Salesforce / Slack Deal as an example and Google purchasing YouTube way back 2006.
Two Types of M&A Deals
First one is category consolidation deals, which is usually done in market categories that are slow or have no growth. The second type of M&A deals are category acceleration deals, which happens in early or high growth market categories.
In line with this, let’s step back in memory lane, October of 2006, when Google purchased YouTube For $1.65B. YouTube was two years old then with just 65 employees. Many experts said predictable things like “how can Google be so stupid” “they paid so much for a company with little revenue, no profits.”
“In 2006, google didn’t buy YouTube’s technology, customers, or revenue or profits. Google was the category queen in Search and they bought the category queen in Video. They bought the #1 position in category. A category with massive potential. Potential, that some others could not see.” – Christopher Lochhead
Youtube: #2 Search Engine In The World
Legendary new categories are often obvious to most people, in hindsight. To put a fine point on this one: in 2019 YouTube did $15B in Ad sales. Google made a category acceleration deal. They redesigned part of the category landscape on the internet and they’ve been benefiting as a result ever since then
“Think of what could have happened to Google if Microsoft, Yahoo, Disney or someone else owned Youtube? As Internet categories were getting designed and redesigned, without YouTube, Google could have found its ass on the floor in the game of category musical chairs.” – Christopher Lochhead
Salesforce $28 billion Deal To Buy Slack
After Salesforce bought Slack for $28billion, their stock got hammered down to 11%. In fact, headline of MarketWatch.com is: Salesforce stock drops as Wall Street questions necessity of Slack purchase.
“Now there is an epic mega category battle going down for the new distributed, digital workplace. Here’s what they don’t get…Salesforce just increased their odd in this epic category battle.” – Christopher Lochhead
To know more about How Category Designers Do Acquisitions: Why Salesforce/Slack Is a Savvy Deal, 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; was the founding CMO of Internet consulting firm Scient, and served as head of marketing at the CRM software firm Vantive.
Links:
Salesforce acquires Slack for over $27 billion, marking cloud software vendor’s largest deal ever
Salesforce to Acquire Slack for $27.7 Billion
Google to buy YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock
A Decade Ago, Google Bought YouTube — and It Was the Best Tech Deal Ever
Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion
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.
