July 2009 Archives

A little over two months ago, we released the video, "Entrepreneurs can change the world" to spark a movement to help turnaround the economy, remind entrepreneurs why they started out in the first place, and inspire others to go out there and realize their dreams. As an entrepreneur who serves other entrepreneurs, I hear stories about growth each day: how people went out and offered new products and services, created jobs, and used their entrepreneurial passion to make a difference.

Our goal with the video wasn't to generate more sales. Instead, right from the start, our success metrics were: 'number of video views', and 'comments and ratings' (both on YouTube and other social sites). We also released all of the data about our campaign so that other entrepreneurs could use it as an opportunity to learn about this kind of unique approach, and the costs involved. In other words, we made the entire project (and our strategy) transparent. With just under 200,000 views, over 200 comments and 575 ratings on YouTube, the response has been truly amazing.

As I've described in previous posts, tremendous effort was spent by talented individuals (not large agencies) to create an authentic and inspirational message with words and design, and also music--we even had an original score created by Carly Comando in order to give the video a fresh sound. It turned out great, and the video's received a huge, positive response.

Imagine my great surprise then, just a few days ago, when I got phone calls and emails from people asking if Grasshopper had done a TV commercial with American Express. People were telling me they had heard "the song from the Grasshopper video" on TV, and I had to explain that, no, Grasshopper had not partnered with AmEx, or permitted them to use any of the elements of our campaign. It wasn't until a couple of days later when I was watching the news that I heard music very similar to Carly Comando's score emanating from the TV. I ran to check it out and sure enough, it was the AmEx ad everyone was telling me about. As I later found out, not only was the music the similar, but so were the words and overall message.

After a little research, I discovered that Ogilvy & Mather was American Express' ad agency. I then researched a lot more and discovered that Ogilvy & Mather had visited the Grasshopper website page regarding our campaign multiple times prior to the release of the American Express ad on TV (thank you, Google Analytics). I reached out to the video's producer and writer, Sonja Jacob. She also checked her site analytics and found that Ogilvy & Mather had visited her site multiple times. And can you guess which page they spent the most time on? Yup, you got it--the page where she discussed her work with Grasshopper and displayed the video. Curious.

It's important to note that the amount of time Ogilvy & Mather spent on our website is very high. Below are the Google Analytics reports from both websites for May 1st to July 26th. As a result of this data I had to conclude that at minimum, Ogilvy was aware of what we created (and that is the absolute minimum you can conclude--although you can extrapolate much more). With site analytics to tell the story, at the very least one can say that it wasn't just a coincidence that American Express came out with an ad that sounded a lot like ours only two months after our video was released.

You might also want to listen to the radio ads The Cultivated Word created for the movement, which were also on Sonja's website. I mean, you might as well--Ogilvy & Mather definitely checked them out while they were there.

It bothers me that a very large ad agency would "borrow" from not one entrepreneurial company (Grasshopper) but also an independent communications professional we hired to produce a video. But what bothers me more is that the message is being used for direct commercial gain by AmEx to promote another venture of theirs, OPEN Forum. Obviously, we sell a product at Grasshopper, but the purpose of the video was to motivate entrepreneurs--hell, anyone--to go out and do something, make a difference.

This video was never created so that we could monopolize the message, "entrepreneurs can change the world," but there are certainly lots of ways to get this message across without replicating someone else's campaign (especially if you have the resources of Ogilvy & Mather). After all, we were open to sharing the video. In fact, we even released it under the Creative Commons license so anyone could download it, show it at conferences, company meetings or anything else. What's more, we removed our branding almost entirely so that people could just use the video to motivate people. Instead, a very large ad agency decided it would be easier to just "borrow" the feel of our messaging, and not even engage in a partnership that would truly help entrepreneurs (there are definitely ways to do this, American Express).

End result? We're not whining about Ogilvy's usage of our message, we just think it's kind of lame for a big ad agency to come in and take messaging from an entrepreneurial company. Not holding people accountable for their actions is what has put our society in the turmoil we're in today, and I think Ogilvy & Mather should be held accountable, too. Yes, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," but I think it might have been more authentic if Ogilvy & Mather had just come up with their own campaign. Moreover, it would've been cool if AmEx had considered a partnership with us to help entrepreneurs, or raise awareness on an even greater level of how entrepreneurs really can change the world, without using someone else's original ideas. (AmEx execs, if you're reading this, give me a call.)

All of the data is here. Draw your own conclusions. Either way, I hope you'll consider spreading the word about the video that inspired it all, "Entrepreneurs can change the world," as well as the important message that we really are capable of turning the country, and the world, around.

The Grasshopper 5000 campaign has been amazing for our company, and a large part of our success is due to the inspirational video we made for entrepreneurs (and, of course, the people that love them). As of today, the video has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube, and we've received mountains of feedback from entrepreneurs (many of whom are Grasshopper customers) and numerous organizations who find the message in the video compelling and persuasive.

First off, I'll give credit where credit is due. We hired copywriter and creative Sonja Jacob to come up with the concept and story for the video, and she got motion designer Ben White, who does amazing motion design work, involved in the process. Last--and certainly not least--Carly Comando was brought on board to create a one-of-a-kind and incredibly moving piano score for the video.

As soon as the video went live back in early May, people began contacting us for details about the music--they wanted to know who it was and where they could buy the track. Up until a week ago, we'd been telling people to buy the track on Amazon.com, but now the song Carly created for us, called "Chain Reaction," is also available for purchase on iTunes. Hope you enjoy listening to the track as much as I have, and thanks again to ALL of the incredible, creative people who brought the video to life.

Our quarterly strategic planning sessions always include an activity that's interesting, fun, and team-building. We've done kart racing and snowmobiling in the past, and recently decided we were going to brew our own custom beer. We found Barleycorn's Craft Brew in Natick, MA, and made a reservation to brew a red and an IPA. It was an interesting process with several steps including weighing the ingredients and getting familiar with Barleycorn's custom brewing equipment.

The whole brewing process, from start to finish, took about 2.5 hours. They allow you to bring in beer to drink as you brew, so we essentially hung out, drank beer, and brewed our own custom brew, too. After the beer fermented for three weeks, it was time to bottle it. This wasn't as fun as making it. It consists of washing bottles, and then waiting while your custom beer is loaded into three bottles at a time. After you close each bottle, you adhere a label to your creation and pack it up. Since we'd made so much beer, we were bottling for a little over three hours. This was made more manageable by "testing" our custom brews extensively. A slight decline in productivity, but nothing major.

While bottling wasn't so much fun, it was fascinating to learn about the business during our two visits to Barleycorn. Due to Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) regulations, Barleycorn can't brew and sell their own beer. But you are buying ingredients from them and leasing time on their equipment when you brew beer at their establishment. This allows them to qualify as a "home brewery" so they don't have to charge taxes or comply and with certain regulations to which commercial breweries must adhere.

While there were many first-timers at Barleycorn, there were also tons of regulars coming in and out, mixing their unique beers and chatting with the owner. The facility--if that's what you want to call it--was lively and fun. If you can get past the intense smell of hops, you'll have a great time not only because you're drinking, but because it's clear how much passion the owner has for what he does. He took something he loved--beer--and turned it into a real business venture. This is how to be happy and successful as an entrepreneur: transfer your passion to others while working with what you love each day (in this case, it's beer). In addition to passion, the owner of Barleycorn also has integrity. He demonstrated this when one of our beers came out a little differently than we expected. Sensing our disappointment with how the batch turned out, he offered to let us brew more beer for free to make up for it. While we didn't take him up on his offer, the fact that he even offered made me a huge fan.

It was great to be able to make beer brewing a part of our strategic planning session this time around. It was also a great opportunity for us to support a local business, and get some really great beer out of it. We'll be serving the fruits of our labor, Grassshopper Red, the Premium Beer for Entrepreneurs, at our company bbq in a couple of weeks.

You may have heard about our recent campaign to re-brand ourselves as Grasshopper on Mashable, in the Wall Street Journal, or from the recent post on MarketingProfs. The media attention really raised awareness about our marketing campaign, which involved sending 25,000 chocolate covered grasshoppers to 5,000 influential people across North America. In addition to the chocolate covered grasshopper component, we also created a two minute inspirational video about entrepreneurship. The campaign was conceived and executed entirely in-house--no advertising or PR agencies were used at all. As a result of the nature of the marketing campaign and the video, we got a lot of inquiries from people asking how we did created both, how effective the campaign was, and what the price tag was to create the entire campaign.

Well, ask and you shall receive.

As of today, the answers to all of your questions regarding the campaign can be found in our case study. You'll get an in-depth look at the campaign and detailed metrics about the results it produced, such as number of mentions on Twitter, YouTube views, website traffic increases from Twitter and Facebook, and number of blog post mentions, just to name a few. There's also quite a bit of metrics on user-generated content in response to the Grasshopper campaign. Why are we making all of this information public? Easy: Entrepreneurs from all over asked for it.

And yes, we detail the actual cost of the campaign in this case study. Don't believe me? Check out the case study for yourself.

With so many people job hunting these days, it's harder than ever to make your resume stand out from the crowd. As co-founder at Grasshopper, I look at tons of resumes each week. While occasionally I'll find a diamond in the rough, more often than not, candidates stand out for the wrong reasons--there are typographical errors in their cover letters or resumes, or they promise a certain level of design work and then their portfolio tells a different story. I'm not a recruiter, of course, but since resumes often cross my desk (or more accurately, my computer screen), I thought I'd offer up some pointers to prospective candidates. Keep in mind the following is what makes me really consider a candidate--it's not intended to be an exhaustive, one-size-fits all list.

1. Don't make your cover letter a personal manifesto. I want to see you've taken the time to personalize your cover letter, but I don't want to read a thesis before I get to your resume. If I see you've provided a lot of words for something you should've just said in a few, I have to assume that you don't value my time (or yours). My personal limit for cover letters is about three concise paragraphs.
2. Stand out--for the right reasons. If you're a graphic designer and on your resume you claim to have tons of design experience, I expect your portfolio and website to reflect that. It's also good if your resume has a small design element that sets it apart from the rest, but nothing crazy.
3. Find out if you'll fit in. Be realistic about whether or not you'll be a good fit for the company. How do you do this? Reading about Grasshopper before you apply/get an interview is a good start. You could also read this blog, since I post about Grasshopper quite a bit. However, you'll really have an advantage in the hiring process if you check out our core ideologies and think about what they mean to you. One of the most successful interviews ever at Grasshopper was a candidate--and now employee--who took the time to learn all of the core values and then described how she exhibited each one as a prospective candidate during the interview process. She was hired.
4. Tell me about your passion. At Grasshopper, we look for people who are passionate about what they do every day at work, but also in their personal lives. If you're passionate about cycling, blogging, or you're a budding oenophile, tell me about it somewhere on your resume or cover letter (in a subtle and tasteful way, of course). I like to see that you know how to balance your passion with your work responsibilities, too, so if you get to the interview stage, be prepared to tell me how you've done this in the past.
5. Show me how you're engaged with social media. What's your social media profile? Are you on Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn? If you're using social media and you think it's relevant to your position, include the info somewhere on your resume. It's another way for me to find out if you're the right fit for Grasshopper, and checking out your profiles can really provide extra details about you as a person and as a candidate. This might not be necessary for all job applicants, but it's helpful for many, especially if you're applying for a marketing role, or any other position that requires heavy interaction with people. That being said, if your Facebook or Twitter accounts showcase a plethora of unnecessary details about you (e.g., you post on Twitter: "Eating a bowl of cereal."), then you shouldn't tell me about it. Simple as that.
6. Use your personality. A little personality goes a long way in my book. People in creative fields like advertising and art direction have known this for years, and always seem to have the most innovative "cover letters", resumes, and portfolios. While submitting a resume that's over the top won't work for a software development position, take a lesson from the creatives out there and add something special to your resume to make it stand out--like a short video cover letter or an inventive resume format (that doesn't obscure your credentials). While it may not work if you're applying for a position at Deloitte, when executed properly, it'll get you noticed at Grasshopper.

You may have read about our recent campaign to spread the word about GotVMail's re-branding as Grasshopper, or perhaps you were one of the 5,000 influential people that received a package of chocolate covered grasshoppers. Maybe you even read our case study on our unique marketing campaign. But I guarantee you don't know about the blood, sweat, and tears that were shed to get this campaign off the ground.

One of the things I'm really proud of is that we have the best people working for us at Grasshopper. Just before the launch of our re-branding and our chocolate covered grasshopper marketing campaign, everyone was working ridiculously hard to meet deadlines and deliver the "goods" so to speak. For some people, those "goods" consisted of creating our new website, and for others, it was building our amazing new web administration tool. People worked for days straight, operating on little more than sheer adrenaline in many cases. Our headquarters in Needham began to feel less like our traditional, clean workspace, and more like a lived-in home that just so happened to have dozens of committed employees plugging away at all hours of the night. Whatever the task, there was someone who owned it, and when the day of the official launch rolled around, everyone delivered.

Everyone was able to contribute to the re-branding of Grasshopper, especially when it came to preparing the 25,000 chocolate covered grasshoppers for shipment. Once they were in their glossy white packaging with tags attached, employees and their families joined Siamak and I stuffing the bags into thousands of FedEx envelopes (5,000 in total). Instead of paying some anonymous crew to come in and prepare the packages for shipment, we all got together in our training center and formed a quasi-assembly line, everyone stuffing and sealing those special envelopes. With everyone pitching in, we finished packaging all of the bags of grasshoppers in record time, even with a surprise visit from our local Fox news station.

Jokes about the unfortunate name of Dunkin' Donuts' new iPhone app--Dunkin' Runs--aside, I have to agree with Chris Brogan that this little tool sounds pretty useful. Not everyone needs a personal assistant a la Siri, but it's pretty common to need a little caffeine boost at three in the afternoon.

An app that solves a problem you probably already have seems much more useful than one that encourages mindless play, and who doesn't have problems remembering everybody's requests when making a trip to Dunkin', mid-day? Rather than sneak out to get your fix and risk pariah status in the office, the Dunkin' Runs app lets you invite others, place orders online, and then pick them up at a store. According to Mashable, it's all a part of Dunkin' Donuts' recent "social media tear" which includes an interactive website. Call it what you will, Dunkin' Donuts has shown us how to do build an iPhone app (and engage customers through social media) the right way.

Is there a wrong reason to create an iPhone app? Well, yes--it's when you create an app just for the sake of doing it, without offering any real advantage to users. The launch of 3GS has reignited the iPhone frenzy, and now there is even more pressure on companies to produce a trendy app so they can say they have one. But I see that as a big mistake. If you ever make a business or branding decision simply because everyone else is doing it, you're not thinking strategically--you're simply caving to industry peer pressure. Talk all you want about "missed opportunities," but apps that don't address a real need, or cater to an audience your company doesn't have, end up as brand trash littering the path towards a real identity.

A few bloggers have expressed a similar sentiment to mine. Digital Ministry, The Lab Report, and other blogs have pointed out that developing an app for your company can be dangerous territory if you don't have a plan. The Lab Report bloggers--huge Mac and iPhone proponents--also bring up a good point about the bizarre cycle of iPhone app development: that companies either move too slowly to develop an app or too fast. "Depending on the brand and its culture, either of those scenarios can be a bad thing," points out Chris of The Lab Report.

And more common sense from Forrester Research: don't build an iPhone app for your customers (or prospective customers) when market research indicates it's not the phone they use. As Mobile Marketer stated, "Creating an iPhone application for an audience that is mostly using BlackBerry phones isn't going to work."

Usefulness and value are what people want right now and what will make your brand stronger in the long run. If you're considering an app for your brand, make sure you do your homework, listen to your customers, and remember the two aforementioned words as you move through development.