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A StarTAC revival for the ultra-connected set…

Posted by Anu Heda on Sep 27, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with

Do you remember the great cellular phone of 1996 – the Motorola StarTAC?  I remember the easy user interface and durability (flights of subway stairs were no match for the StarTAC).

Anyhow, during a massive flight delay, I got to chatting with two seasoned sales people from the enterprise software industry.  Each had a laptop, iPad, & BlackBerry.  And as they bestowed knowledge upon me, I got to ask them how they use the different devices (note: all devices provided by their employer), what they like/dislike about the tools, and how the tools changed sales.  Significant opinions and knowledge provided!

Afterwards, it became clear to me that with the ubiquitous (albeit slow) Verizon iPad, they had relegated the BlackBerry to be, well, just a phone.  They didn’t like the tiny screen and the massive scrolling to look through all their emails.  And both commented on the lightness of the iPad – they proclaimed to take it everywhere.

So perhaps the next evolutionary step is to make the tablet more robust and the phone less so.  Perhaps Motorola can revive the StarTAC for the ultra-connected employee.

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Sep 26, 2011, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , ,

For the first time, we didn’t find three blogs to present.  We did read two posts that presented important insights.  Insights an FA could pick-up and use immediately.

Virtus – Joe Terranova presents a rational case for his current concerns in US equities.  It’s digestible and probably worth consideration as skittish investors continue to press their FAs for ways to understand if the market will swing upwards.

BlackRock – We are proponents of the dueling opinions format.  Matt Tucker and Russ Koesterich sound off on the Federal Reserves “twist” strategy.  It’s succinct, compelling and shows BlackRock isn’t afraid to showcase different opinions.

Discussing Mobile … soon

Posted by Anu Heda on Sep 22, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with , ,

Next month, we’ll be presenting at the MFEA eCommerce conference in Chicago.  It’s a privilege and we’re looking forward to the event overall.

We’ve been reaching out to our e-Business network in order to understand if there are common struggles.  From those conversations, two topics we’ll definitely cover include:

  • Mobile sites versus apps for devices
  • Just product information? product PLUS thought leadership? Maybe something else?

Interestingly, there’s not much concern on building for Android.  Many firms with (or pending) iPad/iPhone apps plan on migrating to Android in quick fashion.   Seems like firms are starting with the Apple platform and then adding Google afterwards.

Mike will make this an engaging 45 minutes.  If you’re on the fence about attending, let us know and perhaps a cocktail or beer with Mike could sway you to make the one-day trip.

Content as Journalism, not Marketing

Posted by Mike McLaughlin on Sep 22, 2011, in Thoughts , tagged with , ,

Asset managers typically have experienced writers on staff. Yet most of our clients struggle to consistently produce as much compelling content as they’d like.

In most cases the challenge is not a lack of ideas but difficulty in execution. We hear things like:

  • There are tons of opinions floating around this place. We just can’t harness them all.
  • We have great ideas, but all of those ideas ultimately turn into 10-page PDFs.
  • Our process for producing a piece of content simply takes too long.

When I look at these issues, I think about newspapers, magazines, and blogs. These entities live (and die) by their ability to consistently create compelling content, and succeed only by overcoming the problems voiced above.

That leads me to ask: what if investment firms treated content-generation as journalism instead of marketing?

Consider that there are important differences in the ways journalists produce content when compared to marketers. There are editorial structures, processes, and a pacing associated with journalism that simply don’t exist within asset management marketing teams, even if some of the same skill sets do.

Why not incorporate these advantages? Have 1-2 people serve as “staff writers”, and make it their full-time jobs to create a constant stream of content. These writers could:

  • Attend all important firm events (conferences, conference calls, Webcasts, sales meetings)
  • Interview all portfolio managers on a quarterly basis
  • Consume industry press and competitors’ content

Then let the source material guide the output – in some cases short blog posts, in others long-form papers. A journalistic mentality means you let the idea and process dictate the nature of the output. Even with a dose of attrition (pieces that ultimately fail), I think content production would improve for most firms.

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Sep 19, 2011, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , ,

This week we saw a lot of blogs, but primarily focused on very current events.  While those can be interesting, they can also be so specific as to become stale in two days.  Here we have three interesting premises, in three different blogs.

  1. Vanguard – This post provides a clear relation (and line of thinking) between the large sell-off last month and retirement.
  2. Russell – Great post on what advisors think retirees want and what retirees actually want.
  3. Wells Fargo – The always enjoyable Dr. Jacobsen uses this post to share his opinion on a US version of a value-added sales tax.