is There a Red Bull in Search and Content Processing
July 16, 2013
After a series of meetings on the Left Coast, I sought respite in my newsreader. What caught my eye was an article about Red Bull. This snippet caught my eye:
Red Bull as a lifestyle, a kind of belief system, a religion in which that can of liquid was necessary and functional. From the beginning, Red Bull, the belief system, and Red Bull, the product, were inextricably intertwined.
You can read more in “Red Bull Gives You a Business Strategy.”
This article sparked this question, “Which search and content processing vendor is implementing the Red Bull business strategy?” My knee jerk reaction was to say, “Google.”
Google embodies a life style at least for those who want quick and easy access to relevant information as determined by the Google system. But what about less high profile companies and, narrowing still further, companies not built on advertising and free services?
Here’s another snippet:
Thirty years later, Red Bull has become a company that is hard to describe in conventional terms and perhaps the premier global example of a business that combines story and action — something I call a storydoing company. Instead of “telling” its story using advertising, Red Bull conveys its story through the creation of compelling experiences, all carefully crafted to “give you wings.” Because of this, Red Bull has become a packaged-goods company that is also a content creation company that is also an events company that is also an adventure sports lifestyle company.
Measured against “storydoing”, most search and content processing vendors fail. One example is a company which landed two big accounts and managed to miscommunicate the nature of the problem solved and the fact of the deals themselves. I receive PR missives each days which recycle the same limited vocabulary of buzzwords. When I inform the earnest spammers that I don’t care, I get PRatronization back.
The fact is that I could not think of a single current search and content processing vendor which is implementing a Red Bull strategy. Based on the information available to me, search and content processing boils down to:
- Recycled assertions
- Overused buzzwords
- Frantic jumping from market to market in hopes of making a sale
- Executive churn
- Angry investors, customers, and users.
I do know about some exceptions, but in the large scheme of things, search and content processing executives cannot implement “storydoing.”
Well, there are some options. These include webinars, Google Adwords, and one shot marketing efforts. I tune out of most webinars. I have webinar fatigue which seems to be communicable. I ignore online advertising, including the annoying pop ups which are reappearing. And I try to dodge one shot marketing efforts.
Are there other reasons why search and content processing, which is maybe 50 years young, has no Red Bull. (At lunch, a colleague pointed out, “Search does produce a lot of bull. I am not sure of the color.”
Good observation.
Stephen E Arnold, July 16, 2013
Sponsored by Xenky
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