Course Conclusion

Final week of class!  What a journey it has been...  I can honestly say that the hands-on applications that were required for this class were more helpful, to me personally, than the traditional course formats of classes I've had thus far in my MBA program.  I found the readings had real-world applications.  Guerrilla Marketing gave insightful knowledge into marketing and what small budget companies or individuals can do to market/advertise as effectively as a big budget firm.  Strategies were laid out clearly, concisely, and with examples which helped me to understand how the concepts could actually be applied to marketing campaigns.  Surfing the Tsunami was very helpful for understanding possible future states of technology and AI.  It served as an inspiration to become more knowledgeable and involved with AI so that I can be better prepared for the inevitable advancements and abrupt changes coming to the job market.

We were also expected to experiment with some AI applications, first-hand.  I have found ChatGPT to be extremely helpful in both school and work.  I have and will continue to use ChatGPT and it's future versions to find insightful answers, generate messages and ideas, and even help me as I learn about computer coding.  Although ChatGPT has taken the internet by storm recently, I may have never realized it's full potential without having to interface with the program during this class and use it to generate content for me.  I also had fun using DALL-E to create images from simple text.  I found the application to be easy to use and highly creative.  No more wishing I could find a picture or graphic that I'm imaging in my head!  Simply type what you want and in what style, wait a few seconds, and voila!  An AI created image that comes custom to you from your own ideas.  Both programs were created by OpenAI and I'm excited to see who they partner with in the future and what further offerings they come up with.

We were also tasked with creating our own blog, website, and running a real ad-campaign!  Blogger was an intuitive platform that was easy to use and came with many options for the style and background to make my blog unique and professional.  I created a website for a fake company that I made up.  ConsultingRx, a consulting company that offers personalized improvements for healthcare clinics, hospitals, and organizations.  I chose this since I work in healthcare and wanted to create a website that had the realistic appeal of my own start-up company that can offer services to the Chicago-land area.  First, I purchased a real domain on Google Domains so that I had a real site address (SchoellConsulting.com).  I created a my website using Google Sites and used Looka to create my own logo and branding.  The final result was a functioning website with a real domain address and catchy logo which represented what my consulting firm would hypothetically offer.  I was thrilled!  

 

Lastly, I used Google Ads to run a real campaign directed at increasing traffic to my website in hopes of attracting hypothetical clients for my consulting services.  Google Ads was an excellent platform to use and I imagine this specific tool as being the most valuable experience of the entire course.  My campaign was more successful than I anticipated (88 views to my site in 10 days!) and I am already looking for ways that I can use my experience with Google Ads to leverage some potential side hustle income. 

 

All of this was a new experience for me.  I would have never experimented with any of these platforms and now I can say that not only am I familiar with them, but I've actually applied them and created useful content from them!  I will be sharing my progress on LinkedIn to showcase the work that I've done and I have this class to thank for that.  I can see the value of having these skills and hope to become more efficient with each of them and more!

 Until next time,

 

 

 

Ultra-Combo

For this week, I wanted to incorporate a little bit of everything and hence, the ultra-combo blog post!  In chapter 6, Surfing the Tsunami discusses the third stage in progression; becoming adept in AI.  This involves getting directly involved with AI; using it, be involved with developing it, learning code, working with data, and even obtaining certifications.  While this post will not necessarily demonstrate becoming adept in AI, I will utilize ChatGPT to write the main context of this post and DALL-E to create the graphics. 

 

 

To round out the ultra combo, I'm asking ChatGPT to write a summary of this week's chapter of Guerrilla Marketing.  Let's see what ChatGPT can provide! 

  

Chapter 6 of "Guerrilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson is titled "Selecting the Most Lethal Marketing Methods." The chapter focuses on the importance of understanding your target audience and creating a message that resonates with them. The author emphasizes that guerrilla marketing is about making a connection with the customer and creating a relationship, not just selling a product. 

The chapter begins by discussing the importance of research in understanding your target audience. Levinson suggests that marketers should research their customers' needs, wants, and values, as well as their age, gender, income, and lifestyle. He also recommends using focus groups, surveys, and other research methods to gain a deeper understanding of your customers. 

Levinson then goes on to discuss the importance of creating a message that speaks directly to your target audience. He advises marketers to use language that their customers can relate to, avoiding technical jargon or language that is too simplistic. The author suggests that using a personal tone, including humor or emotion, can help create a more powerful and memorable message. He also emphasizes the importance of providing value to your customers, whether through entertainment, education, or information, in order to establish a relationship of trust and loyalty. 

Finally, the chapter highlights the role of repetition in guerrilla marketing. Levinson argues that people need to see a message multiple times in order for it to sink in and create an impression. He suggests using a variety of channels to reach your target audience, such as social media, email marketing, and traditional advertising, and emphasizes the importance of consistency in messaging across all channels. 

In conclusion, chapter 6 of "Guerrilla Marketing" provides valuable insights into selecting marketing methods that can effectively connect with your target audience. The chapter emphasizes the importance of understanding your audience, creating a message that resonates with them, and using repetition to establish a powerful connection and build a loyal customer base.

Pretty impressive, right?  ChatGPT provides a high level overview of the chapter's contents and provides enough detail for you to discern the chapter specific principles and concepts from the overarching theme of the book.  My DALL-E generated photo is a representation of how I feel each time I interface with ChatGPT - Mind Blown! 

While this post incorporates both books, ChatGPT, and DALL-E, it isn't exactly becoming adept with AI.  But it does serve as reinforcement and demonstration to the power, usefulness, and capabilities that new AI software provides, which is intriguing.  Intriguing enough to motivate me to dive in further and explore ways that I truly can become adept at AI.  I hope it might do the same for you!

Until next time, 

Creative Marketing for Guerrillas

Chapter 5 of Guerrilla Marketing covers creativity in marketing.  Levinson explains that in marketing, creativity is directly tied to generating profits.  A campaign is only creative if it's successful.  If your ad or campaign is generating large profits, you can conclude that it inherently contains creativity and vice versa.    

 

 

 

First, Levinson lays out a guide for determining your creative strategy.  Begin by writing a three sentence strategy.  Make sure that the strategy includes the purpose of your message, the benefits of your product/service, and the personality of your brand.  Once you've written your creative marketing program, Levinson recommends that you practice by writing creative strategies for current advertisers.  He suggests that it is beneficial to choose at least one from each form of media including newspaper ad, TV ad, website ad, and direct-mail ad.  From this practice, you can gain some experience, apply it to your own campaign, and have a better understanding of your competitors which will help you to avoid a similar or imitating version of their ads.

Once you've developed your strategy, Levinson gives you a seven step program to assure you're on track for success with your campaign.

 

 

1.  Find the inherent drama within your offering.

Everyone loves a little drama.  Your product/service needs to have some aspect of interest so you can grab people's attention, otherwise you may not sell anything.

2.  Translate that inherent drama into a meaningful benefit.

People buy benefits, not features.  Make sure your audience can see that they're not simply buying your product, they're buying an outcome, an image, a status, etc.  Make sure you tie this back to your dramatic feature.

3.  State your benefits in as believable a way as possible.

Discover the relationship between and the difference in honesty and believability.  Be honest but make sure that you can convey a message that is believable to your audience.  Marketing/advertising has the reputation for being deceitful or exaggerative so be thoughtful in your messaging and make your statements easily believable. 

4.  Get people's attention.

People don't care about advertising.  They care about what is interesting to them.  Don't be guilty of creating advertising that's more interesting than your actual product/service.  Get it right by making sure that what you sell is interesting in its own way. 

5.  Motivate your audience to get involved.

Engaging your audience's involvement will help you be successful.  Use tactics to encourage their participation through visiting your store, calling you, keeping a coupon, subscribing to receive more information, visit your website, or take advantage of a free demonstration/trial.  Give them a reason to be actively engaged in your product so they will be inherently more invested in it. 

6.  Be sure you are communicating clearly.

Realize that at best, you're only going to capture about half of people's attention when you present your ad.  The main point must be clearly articulated, communicated, and understood.  Zero ambiguity in your message is the goal; make sure it is clearly understood by all. 

7.  Measure your finished advertisement, commercial, letter, website, and/or brochure against your creative strategy.

Use the strategy as your guide.  If your campaign isn't successful, start over and create it using the outlined process above.  If you find that the ad is consistent with your strategy and it's still unsuccessful, carefully evaluate the other aspects of your product, image, message, etc. to discover where the shortcomings are.

In marketing, being creative isn't the same as we stereotypically think.  It doesn't mean you're necessarily artistic, an excellent drawer, painter, writer, etc.  It means that you're in touch with your product and identify where you may be able to think and act outside the box to ensure the success of your ad, campaign, product, and company.  It is the ideas that are classified as creative and it's only creative if it ends up generating profit.  Be thorough, thoughtful, direct, clear, and relentless and you may find yourself generating more creativity than you thought possible.

Until next time, 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adapt the AI

Time to dive in to AI!  Chapter 4 of Surfing the Tsunami describes ways to adapt to the capabilities and functionality of AI.  Dr Kelsey gives some great advice on how to begin immersing yourself in the world of AI.  Simple, but helpful tips are provided to help create habits and routines.  In my own experiences, it can be hard to form habits but once solidified, they can greatly improve consistency and productivity.  When my actions are dictated by rules and a structure of discipline, they seem to be longer lasting and more impactful as compared to actions that are based on spontaneous motivation.  I can relate to Dr Kelsey's advice and have set aside designated time to read, review, and think about AI and how it applies to me and my career. 

 

Dr Kelsey suggests that in addition to setting aside time to create habits for learning about AI, it is also important to dig deep into the materials you review.  Over time, digging deep leads to digging deeper and will help to develop a surface level understanding into a more robust understanding of AI and how it works.  Reading articles and books are a great place to start.  Dr Kelsey provides some nice suggestions on quality and trustworthy resources for searching for articles and keeping up with the AI news.  He also provides three personal recommendations of books that helped him along his own journey; Rise of the Robots, The Master Algorithm, and The Second Machine Age.  Each book presents the possibilities and capabilities of AI from a different perspective; pessimistic, realistic, and optimistic.  Based on the provided summaries and specific quotes mentioned by Dr Kelsey, I find myself particularly interested in The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos.  I think I find this one appealing because it seems to be based on big data, machine learning, and the arms race between companies to acquire and utilize data for driving decisions.  This is not only interesting but incredibly practical in the real world.  Decisions are driven by data more than ever before and I fully expect this will be the trend even more so in the future.  Being aware of how big data in combination with machine learning works, can teach me new skills and help me to creatively think How can I use this in my career? 

This class has already helped me to begin my adventure into adapting to AI by researching and interfacing with actual and practical versions of AI that currently exist such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, and Looka.  I expect that this book and many others will help me transition to the next step in my AI learning adventure; Adopt.  I, for one, am greatly looking forward to further immersing myself into the world of AI through application, interfacing, and reading to further my personal knowledge and familiarity with the subject and to also better position myself to adapt to the rapidly changing world of business and AI.

Until next time, 

16 Secrets

Chapter 3 of Guerrilla Marketing reveals the 16 monumental secrets of guerrilla marketing.  Touted as the massive advantage that small companies can gain in hopes of becoming large companies, these are the principles that guerrilla marketers should live by.  Levinson even claims that by simply knowing and applying these secrets, you are 90% of the way towards achieving success with your marketing.

The Secrets:

    1.    You must have commitment to your marketing program.

    2.    Think of that program as an investment.

    3.    See to it that your program is consistent.

    4.    Make your prospects confident in your firm.

    5.    You must be patient in order to keep a commitment.

    6.    You must see that marketing is an assortment of weapons.

    7.    You must know that profits come subsequent to the sale.

    8.    You must aim to run your firm in a way that makes it convenient for your customers.

    9.    Put an element of amazement in your marketing.

   10.   Use measurement to judge the effectiveness of your weapons.

   11.   Prove your involvement with customers and prospects by your regular follow-up with                 them.

   12.   Learn to become dependent on other businesses and they on you.

   13.   You must be skilled with the armament of guerrillas, which means technology.

   14.   Use marketing to gain consent from prospects, and then broaden that consent so that it             leads to the sale.

   15.   Sell the content of your offering rather than the style; sell the steak and the sizzle,                     because people are too sophisticated to merely buy that sizzle.

   16.   After you have a full-fledged marketing program, work to augment it rather than rest on             your laurels.

While all of these concepts are the key to successful marketing, there were a few concepts that really stood out to me.  First, the importance of commitment and patience.  Successful marketing takes time.  Levinson lists several examples of how important this really is.  Those who are patient in seeing the fruits of their marketing labors pay off, see big payoffs.  Those who do not possess the ability to be patient may prematurely pull the plug on what could have been a successful campaign.  It is crucial to create a campaign that is creative and well thought out.  Take the time to create a thoughtful and impactful plan.  Once you have that, and believe in it, you'll be better positioned to stick to it and fully commit even when there are not immediate financial gains.

Another concept that resonated with me is that profits come subsequent to the sale.  Levinson points out that it is six times more costly to sell to new customers than to existing customers.  Maybe your ad convinces someone to buy your product but that's not going to lead you to the big profits.  Building and retaining client relationships is the key.  Be good to your customers, follow up with them, offer special discounts, and treat them as the valued customer they are.  After all, returning customers can become loyal customers, and loyal customers will continue to supply you with profits and spread your reputation to their family and friends through highly valued personal referrals.

Lastly, the combination of consistency and confidence.  Levinson gives a great example of a previous client that was not having success because she was running her ads twice per week on the highest ranked TV network.  This didn't provide consistency for her campaign.  Instead, her success was found by holding a small section of the Sunday paper to display her ad.  The ad was seen every Sunday and provided her consistent visibility.  The result was a successful campaign.  The ad was seen by people using the Sunday paper every single week; same place, same time.  Not only did it give more frequent presentation to her potential clients, it gave them the impression that the business was consistent and reliable; providing her viewers with confidence that her company would be there, week after week.  By changing from twice per week on the highest rated network to every week in a small newspaper, the campaign became hugely successful.  Truly an excellent demonstration that unless you're able to use an advertising medium effectively and consistently, its better to not use it at all!

Until next time,

AI in Healthcare

As a current member of the heathcare workforce, there was one subject discussed in Chapter 2 of Dr Todd Kelsey's book Surfing the Tsunami that struck a particular chord with me.  In the subsection Health and Diagnosis, Dr Kelsey introduces and discusses AI in healthcare and particularly the progression of machine learning and AI in performing complex decisions or diagnosis that currently we have to rely on a physician's expertise to determine.  Dr Kelsey mentions that "...there have already been instances of algorithms that have been proven to be more accurate than doctors with diagnosis" (Kelsey 2018). I wondered to myself, "How far has this already progressed?" and "Could AI/ML/computers really be the next generation of medical doctors?"

As advanced as healthcare is these days, in many other ways, it would be considered to be relatively archaic compared to the technology and advancements that other industries have leveraged.  Medical records were primarily recorded and kept with pen and paper only a few years ago!  So while AI and technology advancements continue to astonish in many industries, healthcare felt to me like a slow adopter and relatively safe field to be in.  Not only does it seem to be a late adopting industry, medicine and the application of therapeutic intervention is an art form based in scientific knowledge.  The difficulty with medicine is people.  And by people, I really mean variance.  Everyone is different, has different genetics, responds differently, etc.  It's almost impossible to know the right answer when there is so much variance from person to person and how one person reacts to a therapy, medication, or treatment, is completely different than the next.  So, it seems to me that the skills and knowledge of physicians, cultivated by years of education and practice couldn't possibly be replaced by computers, right?  Well, to be honest, I'm not so sure anymore.

Google has multiple AI models that are being implemented in medicine.  In fact, my own organization, Northwestern Medicine, partnered with Google to develop a model designed to identify lung cancer from screening tests.  A skeptic may wonder, as I did, Ok, fine. But how well did it perform and is it really that accurate to be relied upon for such a serious concern? This model can identify cancer better than a radiologist with 8 years of experience and achieved expert-level accuracy (Wiggers 2019).  See that picture above?  This is a chest x-ray of pneumothorax, commonly explained as a collapsed lung.  The highlighted area within the image on the right was generated by another one of Google's AI models.  This was missed by multiple radiologists but accurately identified by the AI model (Wiggers 2019).  Google has also developed DeepMind which is an AI model that can recommend the proper line of treatment for 50 eye diseases with 94% accuracy, thanks to advances in processing visual information through eye scans (Wiggers 2019).

Although incredible feats of advanced AI exist in medicine today and will certainly develop and progress further, I'm not convinced that we will see AI replace physicians.  At least, not yet.  While the data above certainly serves as strong and convincing evidence for the progression of AI and machine learning within healthcare, the gap is too large to close rapidly.  I expect to see more and more integration of AI in medicine and a vast improvement in accuracy and quality of care.  But I also expect physicians and clinical professionals to use these models available as tools in assisting them to provide high-quality healthcare, not replace them altogether. 

 

Dr Kelsey points out that machine learning involves the performance of complex algorithms, supplied by an incredible amount of data and analysis (Kelsey 2018). Dr Kelsey compares this learning technique to the way the human brain creates neurons, developing a network of decision pathways and optimal answers through the development of a new generation of computer chips called neuromorphic chips (Kelsey 2018).  Could a development like this shorten the timeline or close the gap? Yes, of course.  I fully expect to see changes to both hardware and software that we currently use and from that, we most certainly could progress to the point where machines can not only perform all functions and decisions of a physician, but do them better. The parabolic advancements in technology, AI, and machine learning is just getting going and certainly warrants the attention of leaders in healthcare.  Computers don't get tired, they don't have 'a bad day', they don't act on emotions, and for many other reasons, can be much more dependable than humans.  I foresee a heavy AI integration over the next decade and fully expect to see physicians utilizing AI to assist them in not only performing surgeries or procedures, but making in-depth, detailed, and accurate clinical diagnosis and treatment plans.  Will they get to the point where we no longer need humans in medicine? We shall see.

Until next time,

References:

1.  Kelsey, T. (2018). Surfing the Tsunami; An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and                                    Options for Responding.

2.  Wiggers, K. (2019, December 3). Google details AI that classifies chest X-rays with human-level               accuracy. VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/ai/google-details-ai-that-classifies-chest-x-rays-             with-human-level-accuracy/

Guerrilla Marketing

In our introductory week, we've been tasked with introductory readings from Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson.  The text from this book is quite intriguing as it serves to identify the main differences between what is referred to as traditional marketing and the concept of guerrilla marketing.  Levinson uses the opening chapter to define his definition of what marketing means and how the guerrilla marketing approach may make you reconsider how you view the term.

First, Levinson defines and clarifies what marketing really is.  Here's some ways in which he redefines the term to get readers thinking about how we may be taking the wrong approach to attracting and retaining customers.

1. "Marketing is every bit of contact your company has with anyone in the outside world."

This is far different than how I thought of marketing.  Marketing is a strategic way to attract new audiences of potential customers, right?  Not exactly.  It is quite literally every contact you have with anyone.  This point emphasizes the fact that anyone is a potential customer and you need to represent your company in all facets of your business.  The devil is in the details!

2. "Marketing is the art of getting people to change their minds - or maintain their mindsets if they're already inclined to do business with you."

Nothing too earth shattering here, but this is an interesting perspective to have when approaching marketing.  You're not merely blasting your product image all over town.  You need to invent ways to convince a potential customer that they would be better off purchasing your product, choosing your product instead of a competitor, or continuing to be a loyal customer.  All different angles with the same goal, sell more product!

3. "Marketing is also the truth made fascinating." 

This statement is geared towards the concept of shifting focus from me to them.  The success from marketing comes from helping your customer succeed at their goals and in turn, you succeed at your goal; generating and retaining business/profits.  Although it seems simple, this statement feels like a core competency in successful marketing and I anticipate it will be an ongoing topic or viewpoint that is reiterated and emphasized throughout the text. 

 

4. "Marketing is more of a science every day as we learn new ways to measure and predict behavior, influence people, and test and quantify marketing... it is also unquestionably an art form...and it is a business.  And the purpose of a business is to earn profits." 

 

This combination of observations and statements is the true meat and potatoes.  Psychology and data are a necessary element to successful marketing but the creative space in which marketing thrives is also an art.  Levinson wraps it all together with this concept that marketing is a combination of wonderful and contrasting principles but above all else, it is a business.  The final objective is to bring science and art together to earn profits and I for one, am excited to read more about what he has to say!

Levinson also highlights 20 distinct differences between 'Traditional Marketing' and 'Guerrilla Marketing'.  Each point highlights the difference in focus, execution, and goals that an agent of guerrilla marketing has, which can give them an advantage in many things such as long-term relationships with clients, harnessing the power of strategic marketing, building customer loyalty, and even collaborating joint marketing ventures with competitors!  Take a look at the overview I've put together in the table below, which summarized the differences that Levinson points out in his text.

           The Differences between ‘Traditional Marketing’ and ‘Guerrilla Marketing’

	Traditional	Guerrilla
1	Maintains that to market properly, you must invest money	Maintains that if you want to invest money, you can – but you don’t have to if you’re willing to invest time, energy, imagination, and information
2	Shrouded in mystique and intimidation; fear of making mistakes can lead to missed opportunities	Removes the mystique and exposes marketing for exactly what it really is – a process that you control – rather than the other way around
3	Geared toward big business with big budgets	Small business: Companies with big dreams but tiny budgets
4	Performance measured by sales or responses to an offer	Main number that merits your attention is the size of your profits
5	Based on experience and judgment; “guesswork”	Can’t afford wrong guesses, so it is based as much as possible on psychology; such as repetition and the unconscious mind
6	Suggests that you grow your business and then diversify	Suggests that you grow your business, if growth is what you want, but always maintain your focus to achieve your goals
7	Suggests that you should grow your business linearly by adding new customers one at a time	Grow a business geometrically – by enlarging the size of each transaction, engaging in more transactions per sales cycle, and tapping into the power of customer referral
8	All efforts on making the sale, under the false notion that marketing ends once the sale is made	Emphasis on fervent follow-up with the knowledge that 68% of all business lost is lost from ignoring customers after they’ve made the purchase
9	Scan the horizon to determine which competitors you ought to obliterate	Scan the horizon to determine which businesses have the same kind of prospects and standards as you do – so that you can cooperate with them in joint marketing efforts
10	Urges you to have a logo that represents your company – a visual means of identifying yourself	Have a meme that represents your company – a visual or verbal symbol that communicates an entire idea
11	“Me” marketing	“You” marketing
12	Focused thought on what can we take from the customer	Focused on the lifetime value of a customer and what we can give a customer
13	Advertising works, web sites work, direct mail and e-mail work	Marketing combinations work. Running a series of ads, having a website, and then direct mailing or e-mailing, they’ll all work, and they’ll each help the others work
14	Count money	Count new relationships; establish and nurture a bond between themselves and each individual customer
15	Rarely emphasize technology	Requires that you be very ‘technocozy’
16	Aimed messages at groups: the larger the group, the better: broadcasts	Aims messages at individuals: narrowcasts, microcasts, and nanocasts
17	Unintentional.  Focus on the big guns of marketing – radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, and web sites	Always intentional.  Focus on the details of contact with the outside world; ignoring nothing and realizing the importance of tiny details
18	Believes you can make the sale with marketing	Alerts you to the reality that marketing today can hope only to gain people’s consent to receive more marketing materials from you
19	A monologue	A dialogue. Interactivity and involving the customer with the marketing
20	Identifies the heavy weapons of marketing: radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, and the internet	Identifies two hundred weapons of marketing, and many of them are free

As you can plainly see, the approach of guerrilla marketing is in stark contrast to traditional marketing in many ways.  Using psychology and the artform of creating strategic marketing, will lead you down a very different path than traditional marketing but according to Levinson, it will also lead you to sustained and growing profits.  Which, after all, is the main goal for any business.  I'm excited to learn more of what this book has to offer in reshaping my understanding and application of marketing in the real world.

Until next time,