#econfPSU Kickoff Keynote - Scott Stratten

UnSelling

President of Unmarketing, former music industry marketing, and professor at the Sheraton School of Business.  Worked with Pepsi, Adobe, and now us...man bun and kittens mentioned.  This should be awesome.

Screaming, Anger, Millennials...Ho Boy...

Why do we use the term UnMarketing?  Very simple - The UN means the actual branding and selling doesn't mean as much as what we do.  His book cover is BLANK.  Try to convince a publisher to do that...you'll see how hard it is to push.  But, it's WHAT YOU DO.  Ask any students/alum - Whenever you say a student's school name/title, it's what they DO.  When you see a university's logo, IT DOESN'T MATTER.  Despite what you think, the logo just creates a definition of what's behind it.  NO ONE has ever said "Hey, I got awful care at this hospital, BUT DID YOU SEE THE LOGO?"

(Oh my God...I'm listening...this is the very battle I'm fighting RIGHT NOW.)

A brand is a VERB, it's what we DO...it is NOT a logo. 

There's two types of people: People who do good to be recognized, and people who do good just because.  The story of the EKU president shoveling the driveway to get a kid to class is a PRIME example.  If that president took his own picture, that'd be one thing.....but the fact that it was a student taking his picture and it's just because he was there?  Stratten reached out to the President, as follows:

"You're awesome."
"Thank you."
"Why'd you do it?  Shouldn't you be up in, like, an ivory tower mandating to the masses?"
"My job is to serve my students.  If Twitter is the medium by which my students reach out, then I'll reach out to them this way."

He's not good at Twitter.  He's good AND he's on Twitter. There is no tool that is inherently successful.  There is nothing that works on its own.  There is no logo that makes information more relevant and engaging.  It's the push behind it.  And that's IMPORTANT.

We need to learn to use EMAIL properly before we're trying to implement this that and the other thing to solve our problems.  We don't need to re-design a look or a logo or a template (*AHEM*) to make our efforts more effective....we need to START PUTTING EMPHASIS ON WHAT MATTERS.  The effort...the intent...these things matter FIRST, all else second.  Don't use technology for the sake of technology.

...and Rosler said, "Amen".

Everything we do and say online and offline is the BRAND. 

You're The Brand

Everything you say and do is the brand.  You are the brand.  There's no such thing as a neutral brand interaction.  People need to realize they impact the brand, and a lot of times they don't realize they do.  The funnel comes into play...

You can have all the likes you want...you can have all the follows...IT'S NOT NEW.

6 years ago, people are freaking out saying "we finally have a social platform", and those of us who are older school are like "B&*%h please".  IRC, ICQ, etc...FORUMS...and WOE be to you if you tried to post an ad on there.  You get the old "Shame and Flame".  We're breaking social media.  Twitter's where Scott built his world.  Four books and twitter supported them all.  Remember the old days of Twitter (like 9 months ago)?  We just TALKED.  Now?  NO ONE TALKS. 

What happens is when we just shout on a platform, you lose the people who create the ecosystem leave.  New people come and see nothing but shouting, and they're not gonna come into it.  Scott was in HR, but he had to get out...because he...umm...hated people.  But they didn't like conflict, so they didn't FIRE the BAD employee.  They just avoided the conflict.  There's the problem.

The Milennials, Scott...they're coming

BUT WE NEED TO USE THESE PLATFORMS BECAUSE THEY'RE COMING!!!!

Fact: Milennials are from 18-35...not just where we peg them.

We LABEL milennials.  What we mean is: People younger than us who we don't like.  End.
(Or because they're younger than us.)  We WANT them to feel a little suffering.  We just want you to feel the PAIN of holding down PLAY RECORD AND PAUSE to record our favorite song on tape.  we used to line up and buy 29 dollar pieces of plastic to hear the ONE SONG THAT DIDN'T SUCK.  We DON'T LIKE THE GENERATION BEFORE US.  Gen X-ers WERE the laziest, disloyalest, unmotivatedest...but THEN Milennials came along.  And we were saved.

"But Milennials don't like meetings..."

WHO LIKES %^&*ING MEETINGS?!?!?!

"Ohh...Milennials like to travel..."

WHO DOESN'T LIKE TO ^&#$ING TRAVEL?!?!?!

But when we say Milennial, we label it and it's ALLOWABLE BIAS.  If you want to stereotype, let's talk about good shit:  They volunteer more than any other generation (3:1), they give more per capita to charity...they want to change the world.  SO LET THEM CHANGE THE GODDAMN WORLD!!


QR CODES - What's the deal?

Out of spite, they put a QR Code on Scott's nametag...too good.

Scott loves the technology...they're a better barcode.  Boarding pass, concert ticket...great.  But for the general population that doesn't have a QR reader built into their camera, they're practically useless.  The technology is useful to a microscopic segment of the population.  Bring in the fact that use of mobile isn't permissible in all areas...are you seeing the problem?

360 video, augmented reality, virtual reality...JUST STOP.  Technology for the sake of technology doesn't serve a SINGLE thing.  Being tech-savvy and hip does NOTHING to getting your message and product across.  Focus on your message, focus on your content...THEN, and only THEN...focus on that "other stuff".


Conclusion
Easily, by far, one of the greatest motivational speeches/presentations I've ever had the pleasure of being present for.  It touched upon a very real, very immediate situation in my workplace and gave me a different perspective on the perspective Scott and I share (Content > Brand).  Hysterical at all the right times, but carrying meaning like not many others have done, Scott laid out his message perfectly, and I can easily say that my "brand" will be getting an overhaul in approaching the overall "brand" I need to get behind.  10+/10...and I might even post this on Yelp.