One word explains the Google superbowl ad: Bing

Published
by
Elias Bizannes
on February 8, 2010
in Internet and Trends
. 0 Comments

Google, a company that used to pride itself on the fact it never had to advertise, put an ad in the mother-of-all advertising slots: during the Superbowl, the most expensive time you can advertise in television. And this was posted on the official Google blog by the CEO Eric Schmidt, a man that doesn't all that often post to the company blog.

Why did it break tradition, with this cute emotional-brand-building ad? Because Google now has for the first time a real competitor, in the rising Bing - Microsoft's rebranded search engine boosted by the $100 million Powerset acquisition. Bing's search technology may still lag far behind, but it's certainly ringing a bell on the marketing side and growing quite healthily as a result. And as well all know, the reason we search is less because we think it's better technology, but more so because of the importance we place on the brand that we feel comfort in.

Google's ad was cute. But capitalism is all about self-interest, and for the few million Google had to spend on this seemingly non-informative ad, what management are thinking is quite clear to me. That being, Google's trying to revamp the emotional attachment we have with the world's most loved brand. But more tellingly, from the very top, Google's scared as hell and is now protecting what they know matters the most in the search engine wars: the emotional connection to a brand.

The best feature Facebook didn’t invent that it should invent now

Published
by
Elias Bizannes
on February 2, 2010
in Internet and social computing
. 0 Comments

Around 9.15pm last night after my first rugby training for the year (and in America), I sat down at the bus stop right by the football field, to catch a bus home. Playing on my iPhone, I noticed a woman walk past me and then run back. That's weird I thought and it raised my awareness levels. Then, I noticed a hooded black kid approach the bus shelter from the back and entering from the left. I watched him turn and saw his arm raise with his jacket covering his hand. A second later, he pointed a gun right into the left temple of my head and mumbled: "ok man, hand it over".

Luckily, I got away with my wallet, phone - and life - in tact. (I stood up, roared abuse at him, and he ran away - don't ask why I did what I did, but it worked!) Minutes later, I shared the news on my Facebook account:

Gun pulled to my head - status.

And I received a flood of comments, phone-calls and text messages over the next 24 hours. No 'likes' however.

The like feature
Friendfeed, a startup Facebook acquired last year, pioneered social media in the way people could collaborate and share information. One of its most brilliant innovations was the 'like' feature - the ability for a user reading something, to acknowledge the content being shared by another user. Rating systems are a hard thing to get right, and its been said by YouTube that the standard five-star rating systems are actually not quite five stars. Friendfeed's simple but elegant approach took a life of its own as a rating mechanism and more. Facebook implemented the feature, and I've been observing how my social circle have reacted to it - and I've been startled at the way its been used. Just like the unique culture Friendfeed built, encouraged by this simple 'liking' activity, so to has Facebook's users developed a unique kinds of behaviour. I'd argue its become one of the key forms of activity on the site.

Australia trip like

So congrats Facebook - you copied a feature and your users love it. Now how about you evolve this remarkably simple form of communication, which has become a powerful way to have people share information (as it flags value, quantifies a kind of engagement and adds an additional level of communication to the originating message). How about a dislike feature? Do you think people would use that?

My friend Marty responded to my gun incident with the following:

Facebook | dislike button

And he wasn't the only one. My Friend Kyle, who responded first, said:

Facebook | dislike by kyle

Despite being an engaging piece of content and popping up on my friend's homescreens, there were no 'likes'. It just didn't seem appropriate. But just like when you can't speak a foreign language fluently but want to communicate a message, the lack of this feature prevented additional communication.

Facebook | dislike button placed here

Social media is here to stay and is having a remarkable impact on our word. If by definition its about connecting people and communicating with each other, let's evolve the way they can express their thoughts beyond simply text. It's going to lead to a more interactive, engaging, and a far richer experience. This post may seem trivial because it's like advocating we create a new word to communicate a frivolous concept, but like language, we gain a type of richness in the diversity we have to express ourselves.

Do entrepreneurs have an expiry date?

Published
by
Elias Bizannes
on January 7, 2010
in Innovation
. 0 Comments

Startup's that are built-to-flip (ie, sold early on) may be the best and dominant way to sustain innovation. How so? Because through observation of the brilliant people I've met in technology startup world, I've come to realise an important lesson: entrepreneur's have an expiry date.

I just don't care any more
I started writing this post sitting in my parents living room last week in Sydney, where I visited for the Christmas break to spend time with family. Chatting away with my parents, my father said something very startling but also very relevant. He was talking about his 73 years of life and the 47 years he's had as a lawyer. Once a fiery dragon in the courts and of life, he's now an aged playboy winding himself down. He said he's thinking of giving it up and going into retirement, as he has been working these last few years purely for the passion. Why quit now, I asked: "I just don't care anymore".

I've got countless anecdotal examples (but none I can share specifically here, sorry). People I thought that were pushing to create global businesses, are now giving way to other priorities and looking to sell their very valuable company. People who have been involved with a startup for over four years, that's only now exploding in growth, but feeling fatigued and ready to move on.

It's not just entrepreneurs
A good friend of mine who has worked for five years at a big bank, is now looking for a change in employer. Several other friends, who have been in long-term romantic relationships for around 3-5 years, are now feeling the pressure of making a decision: get married or stop wasting her time. And sometimes it's not them making the decision - but it's what she's probably thinking.

Passion, fire and ambition is needed to start something - whether it be a new job at a big brand company, a new company that disrupts the industry, or a partner that reinvigorates your life. But like life itself, there is a predictable pattern that follows. What gets born will also mature - and will die, one day. It's just how life is; what goes up, will go down as well.

Build to flip: it's a good thing
Bringing this back to the point of this post, I want to highlight that the obsession to build a sustainable business is actually not a normal thing. And I said obsession, because a few years ago I made a naive plea that that was the only way. Now that I've seen more, I've realised it's a way but not the common way.

People that create businesses are creative. The same reason that makes them creative, is also the same reason that has them get bored when a process gets repeatable. The types of personality that start a company and battle during its pre-revenue days, are vastly different from the ones that help grow and manage a profitable business.

So the next time people criticise a company that doesn't stay the course towards an IPO, and let's itself get bought out - just remember, that sometimes, it's because the people behind them just don't care anymore. And that's perfectly alright. Don't fight it - it's how it is.

« Older Entries