Abercrombie & Fitch is Not Obligated – And Neither Are You

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Albert Qian

The purpose of marketing is to build awareness for a brand and find a market that is suitable to purchase the wares that are being sold for any particular company. Academically we call this segmentation, and it occurs everywhere. In the restaurant industry, McDonalds is open to everyone, while the French Laundry only caters to the highest of the high for those who have the available income. In automotive, Honda and Toyota cater to everyone while McLaren and Porsche are only for those who seek the fastest of cars.

What about clothing? That title may belong to Abercrombie and Fitch.

Trending lately on social media is the controversy brewing from Abercrombie and Fitch, the clothing company that many know for bare chested and clothing-less models. Last week, CEO Mike Jeffries came out in declaring who his company caters to:

“A lot of people don’t belong (in our clothes), and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

The result of his words have been less than favorable. Influence from the mass media has made its way into clothing where an emphasis on clothing not just for thin models but also for those who are not thin, as H&M has done with their swimsuit line as of late. Personally I wouldn’t shop at Abercrombie and Fitch given their past, but we do have a choice. Abercrombie, given it’s line, feels the need to market to the “cool kids” and if they so feel obligated, they have more than their right to. Thankfully as conscious customers, we also have the obligation to spend our money where we please as well.

Boiled down to a few points, the Abercrombie and Fitch controversy boils down to this:

1. No company is obligated to you, and you are not obligated to any other company. Just as A&F has a modus operandi, so do other companies whose mission it is to market to a certain market. They want to send a message. Send yours.

2. Every company should understand the consequences beholden to them. So if CEO Jeffries sees less sales, so be it. His market will continue to shop there and those who don’t feel like shopping, shouldn’t.

3. Stand for something, or stand for nothing. I don’t claim to support Jeffries’ claim – to begin with I can’t even fit in his clothing. However that said he is a stand for something, and as superficial as we may all find that to be, it’s something to begin with because it puts his company on the map. Sure it might be insulting to people who may not fit in his clothing but are you about to complain if you can’t afford to purchase a Bugatti? Are you going to start a petition to lower their costs so they can fit your monetary needs?

Let us consider the true nature of where this is going. Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries is not beholden to you, and nor should you be insulted by him. Carry on with your message because he will carry on with his. If he sees fall out from the consequences then that is his loss — for the rest of us, let’s focus on what clothing we can fit in and how we can be more beautiful without the need for six-pack abs.

Image source: Wikipedia

Dear (Social Media) Graduate

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Albert Qian

As we enter mid-May, we begin the hearing of commencement bells all across the country at college campuses. Eager students ready to take on the world listen to famous dignitaries, politicians, entertainers, and alumni give their words of advice as students enter into the world. I’m none of those, but I want to offer my own advice to the graduating student, particularly the one who’s looking to do social media or marketing. This post originally appeared on Steamfeed, and is repurposed here.

Dear (Social Media) Graduate,

Congratulations! It’s your big day. Welcome to the stage where we acknowledge you – four years of hard work (maybe less for you, if you’re ambitious) and you’re finally here.

It’s been a good four years I hope. You’ve weathered the storm of midterms, papers, projects, and hours of sitting in class as well as in your internship learning the basics of what it takes to begin the journey of mastering the craft that you have chosen.

I also hate to break it to you, but the real test has just begin: real life.

I am not going to deny to you that the world is your oyster, because in all ways it is. You are young, free, and have the open world in front of you to do whatever it is that you please. No longer are you bound by the need to take classes to fulfill a major or attend a meeting so that you are registered and on somebody’s radar, but able to move whichever way you want. To get there however, means that you are going to have to work your butt off, because in today’s economy, nobody is interested in helping you discover you, unless you are interested in helping you discover you. In a world where uncertainty is the name of the game your job is to hustle hard, and hustle harder than ever. You’re going to have nights where you struggle, and days where you excel, and weeks where you just feel like it’s not worth it anymore.

It’s not going to be easy. It never was supposed to be. I can tell you something about that, because I’ve been there and back. And guess what: So far it’s been worth all it’s weight in life wisdom and experience.

It’s a journey, not a marathon.

The test of life is not the job that you will go into. That as much as anything else is the easy part, and I encourage you to work one that is creative, liberating and allows you the freedom to explore what makes you, you. The test of life comes in finding the support network, creating the new you, and learning to deal with the challenges that come before you. Life is both about the people you surround yourself with and the attitude you take when you respond to the events that occur around you, be it a broken car windshield, the first parking ticket you get, or how you spend the first paycheck. You may not use your communications, marketing, technology, or sociology degree until month three, but how people observe your interactions with others, your ego, and your willingness to learn begins on day 0. In a world like social media where industry changes by the second, your attitude is more important than ever. To quote the late Zig Ziglar, “It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude”. With such a whirlwind industry you better keep up, but also know to be of a level head.

As you walk across the stage today, tomorrow, tonight or next week, reflect on the great times you had in college but look forward to the journey that awaits you. Reach out to those who helped you along the way, and invite them into the next stage.

Be well, be great. Happy graduation, Class of 2013.

Sincerely,

Albert Qian
(Class of 2010, Santa Clara University)

Image Source: Google

How I Motivate Myself

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Albert Qian

As an ardent follower of this blog you will have remember that I went on a trip to New Zealand back in early February as part of a
leadership program. Being cut off from phone service for 11 days and being immersed in a leadership program and chatting with the locals was a great experience in allowance for reflection. In coming back, I decided that the time had come to shift my priorities as well as what mattered to me in life, away from the heated debates of politics from the election among other topics — I decided that it was time to shift mindsets and place myself in the best situations possible for attitude and vision.

Here’s where I am so far. Check out the list:

1. Be Musically Motivating: I’ve been listening to music for awhile. I’m no expert but I tend to pick up on the lyrics I listen to. What that has culminated in my Spotify playlist, “Motivation + Inspiration = Awesome” where I have songs that pick me up with lyrics that motivate and inspire. Ideally I would have 8 hours of this everyday, but a few hours doesn’t hurt. My personal favorites are Hero (Mariah Carey), I Believe (Nikki Yanofsky), and Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now (Starship). Have a listen if you’d like.

2. Be Visually Motivating: I have tried my best to hide the political junk that comes through my social media feeds. Sometimes I’ll get sucked in but reading most of the photos and links has motivated me to simply not care. There are a few pages out there but I tend to watch for my network of entrepreneurs who are always posting the inspirational content that they find.

3. Be Quotable: We’ve all been to the network marketing seminar or heard the sayings. From Zig Ziglar’s “It is your atitude not your aptitude that determines your altitude” to Jim Rohn’s “You are the five people you spend the most time around” the ability to know these quotes already puts you halfway to success. Knowing what matters and what drives success and being able to recite these is a great reminder of where you are headed and what is the ideal. Whenever I’m feeling a little discouraged, Zig Ziglar always helps a little.

4. Be Self Aware: One of the things I didn’t possess as a graduate from college was the ability to be self aware. Self awareness starts by being aware of your emotions and knowing why you feel the way you do. Being self aware is the beginning to self enlightenment and looking back on what makes you tick. Sometimes being self aware can be a little scary, but it’s also a motivator for what not to be like, and moving beyond what might be scary.

5. Be Networked: I’m a personal believer that networking – and networking with the right people is a great way to motivate yourself, be it the person that can kick your butt a little bit when you aren’t stepping up or noticing what others are doing and knowing you need to step it up yourself. I’m also a believer that if you spend time with the right people, as Jim Rohn quotes above, you’re on your way to being successful, because mindsets tend to rub off on one another.

6. Be a Futurist: Finally understand that you are on a journey. The best is yet to come. Really, it is!

What’s your motivation? I’d love to hear it below.

Photo credit: Albert Qian, www.albertqian.com

Computer History and Social Media

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Albert Qian

On Saturday I found myself on a family outing at the computer history museum in Mountain View, California, just a few steps away from the likes of Google, Facebook, and Intel. The museum takes a look at the convergence and integration of technology over the past 150 years and how computers have become such a key part of our lives. In the galleries you can see everything from early mainframes to minicomputers and the early Apple I all the way up to the smartphones of today.

Having lived in the valley the experience comes full circle here. I grew up during all of this craziness of course, but didn’t really comprehend much of it as a youngster. The dot com boom and bust happened while I was in the latter stages of elementary school, and WIndows 95 dropped when I was in 2nd grade. While I couldn’t comprehend the brevity of all this on the history of computers at the time, I was most certainly using it. Much of my elementary school weekend afternoon if not spent outside, was spent in front of a computer waiting for a 56k modem to dial up and in so that I could watch the latest video clip for Animorphs, then my favorite book series.

It’s now 2013 – I’m working in social media and have gone through my rounds of high tech in Silicon Valley at Cisco, a company that I thought I would never work for but did anyway. In walking through this museum you understand in a much more general light how much of the valley has shaped the rest of the world and much of what we use today – be it a laptop, mobile phone, tablet, Wireless internet, social media even, were all ideas that got their start in someone’s mind about forty years or more back.

We’ve still got a lot more to do, a lot more to teach, and a lot more to innovate. I’m glad I got the chance to go to the computer history museum – it really puts a lot more meaning into the work that I do, and help others do everyday.

Facebook Social Graph: 5 Things To Do Now That You Have It – Your Privacy Settings (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Albert Qian

Last week discussed the nifty features of Facebook Graph Search. From finding your next date to seeking students who are going to the same school as you are it’s a powerful search tool that changes the way we execute our social media.

Today we talk about your privacy settings on the Facebook Social Graph. Facebook as you know isn’t very good with privacy so this is an important topic to cover. You should care about your privacy because depending your settings you could be searched by other folks in the social graph, your posts can be seen by eyes you don’t, and you might get friend requests from the least likely of people.

Let’s Begin! To start with your privacy settings click the top right hand corner of your profile where you see the gears. Underneath that you’ll see all the pages you manage as well as your privacy and account settings. This is where all the sweet stuff is for you to manage your privacy as well as deactivate your account, should Facebook become unnecessary for you in general.

Scroll down and you will see the area that sets privacy settings. Click on that.

You’ll be taken to a new window where you will see this:

The top section allows specific people to see your stuff – your future posts, past posts, and a reviewing of items. The bottom is what allows other people to look you up. While not social graph specific it’s important to take a look and make sure that you are okay on all aspects of your postings. Especially if you are a student or someone hunting for work, making sure that search engines cannot view your stuff could be important if you don’t want people to look you up. If you also want to prevent people from stalking into your past, limit your audience for all past posts.

Regarding Graph Search, to further lock down your profile consider who you are for a moment:

What networks are you a part of? (College, work, etc)
Have you filled out your profile and your likes?
Have you stated a location?

If you have done any of these you will show up in graph search, unless you completely lock down your profile and make it hidden to everyone in view — this means that no one can find you and that you are pretty much anonymous on Facebook.

Here are 5 things to consider on your privacy end:

1. Unlike any pages that may display you in a negative light: If you care, that is. Just go to the page and hit the like button, and you will be given the option to unlike.

2. Unlink yourself from any specific networks: This means that people won’t be able to find you in any geographic, work, or school networks. (Gear Icon > Account Settings > Networks > Edit)

3. Check your old privacy: Make sure nobody that can’t find you, can’t find you.

4. Check your Contact Information: Make sure those who can contact you, can. And those who can’t, can’t. Better yet to leave this off altogether if you don’t want the trouble.

5. Check your other details: Don’t want people knowing you’re single? Don’t list it. Male or Female? Don’t list that either. Essentially make your profile plain if you feel that it may help you out further!

Do you have any other tips? Share in the comments below!

Facebook Social Graph: 5 Things to Do Now That You Have It (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Albert Qian

Having had the Facebook Social Graph for awhile now I’d have to attest to the fact that it’s rather cool. What makes the feature cool is that you now have the ability to not just search for social connections but you have the ability to specify what exactly it is in those social connections that you are looking for. For example:

Searching for friends who like social media has just gotten easier. Of course, the charts will indicate the pages you like first, but it really allows you to find what it is exactly that friends like or want. When I went on my trip to Portland and Seattle last month, I searched and easily found who lived in both locales. Of course, if your friends don’t list where they actually are, then that makes the process more difficult.

For social media marketers and users alike however, Facebook Social Graph brings an unheralded aspect of social media and offers something for everyone in every segment. Here are 5 things you can do, depending on who you are:

1. Find Your (Next) Job: Enter in “People who work at _______” and fill in the blank with the company you want to work in. You’ll get a list of people who work at that company. Presumably this gives a leg up on LinkedIn, but it has yet to be seen if people like to be bugged on Facebook for job requests or requests for informational interviews.

2. Find Classmates: Going to a new college? Want to know who might go somewhere? Enter in “People who attend ______” and in the blank space put in the school you want. If you want a specific major, after the school add “in ________” and you’ll dive even deeper.

3. Find your neighbors: Moving to a new location? Enter in “People who live in _____” and fill the blank in with a name of a place. Want to know who lives in your city? Do the same!

4. Find people who like what you like: Relationships are best cultivated when you know what other people are into and share that with you. Enter in the name of what you like and go.

5. Find people who’ve done it: Enter in “Friends/people who have gone to _____” and the location of the place that they went, if you are about to go. A great way to get an opinion on something before you go and do whatever it is that you are about to do.

There are of course, no guarantees that any of this will turn out well — your message might get lost in the “other” inbox or people may respond to you far differently than on another social network, but it’s worth a shot!

And of course, if you want to use Facebook as a dating site, I didn’t endorse anything…

We’ll talk about privacy settings in our next post!

Your Social Media Campaign is All About Your Relationships

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Albert Qian

Two weeks ago I presented at the Microsoft Store on social media analytics and talked about how Cisco does social media analytics with regard to communities (on the enterprise side) and how analytics was executed for Silicon Valley Story, the networking event I put together back in January at the Sunnyvale Art Gallery. I hashed out some never before seen data on Silicon Valley Story that looked at its numbers.

The main takeaway: People — and relationships specifically — drive your campaigns, the smaller your business or event.

What does that mean? It means that no matter how much money you may spend on an advertising campaign, stand out in the rain with the sign to your event or repeatedly post on channels where you lack an audience, the ultimate barometer of anything you do may lie in how many quality relationships you have built with others, in addition to the testimony of the story that you’ve built for the purpose of your event. Granted my event was fairly new – but given any startup or event you get into, the one measure of success you can count on is networks – yours, your network’s, and your networks networks.

Here was mine:

Click on the image for a larger view.

Basically what this comes out to — and really the only metrics that matters, attendance, is that 66% of the attendees who came were previously associated with me by some manner. And of the 66%, 12-34% came through by network of networks. The other 34% of attendees that showed up were there without prior association to me.

I hypothesize that as I do more of these events the 66% number will decrease and more unassociated attendees would show up.

The point however, still stands: The relationships you have with people help you get to where you want to be. Without this, you’re not going anywhere, so make sure you take time out of your busy workday to invest in those that matter to you.

Facebook’s Home is Revolutionarily Worrisome

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Albert Qian

Today Facebook announced its foray into phone integration by introducing Facebook Home. Home in Facebook’s words “is the family of apps that puts your friends at the heart of your phone”. Shipping with the new HTC First and then to a set of fragmented carriers later, this feature promises to put everything about your friends at your fingertips. The user experience from this will ensure that no matter what you are doing with your phone you will always be notified of what you are friends are up to, and be conveniently socializing (and of course, clicking ads).

From the technologist’s side in me I think this phone has the potential to be great as does the social media marketer. You are after all, not going to miss out on anything your friend’s do, be it your best friend’s status update or the new baby your cousin had or what your favorite Facebook pages have to say. As of the current moment if you have an iPhone you can get push notifications for chats and actions people perform on your profile, but this takes things to a whole new level. You’ll never have the fear of missing out, be constantly connected, and know everything your friends are up to.

Or in Albert Einstein’s words…

I guess what makes this revolutionary is the fact that it’s a promotion of what is already at the heart of our disconnected society. While the joy of social media exists in communicating important messages and keeping up, lost in something like this is being almost too much in the know, where removal results in FOMO, or the fear of missing out, a common feeling many in Gen Y sense.

Knowledge is fast becoming the most attainable asset that anyone can have. Facebook Home takes that to the next social level where we will never be “alone” again. One part of me finds this app to be amazingly awesome, but the other side feels like we’ve just really descended into a new awkward area of social interaction.