It is almost a cliché for billionaires to make vanity purchases of media companies and professional sports franchises (indeed, Henry owns several).
In this case, however, the two billionaires have track records of revolutionizing industries by applying a unique formula that seems especially suited for helping traditional (venerable) media companies (and all companies) respond to the challenges (and opportunities) they face today. First, in their previous endeavors, they have obsessively searched for a means to understand and master the metrics that matter most in a particular marketplace; and second, they have passionately pursued a never-ending quest for insight into, and response to, the needs and desires of customers.
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While we moved our office to downtown Nashville a few months ago, all of us at Hammock have been anxiously awaiting the day we started renovating the space that will actually be our home.
The companies that really know how to use customer media content—to create and deepen relationships with customers, not just to fulfill some checklist of sales and marketing materials—have a few things in common.
From our work and research, here are 10 traits of companies setting the benchmark for using customer media and content that works:
In the current Idea Email, we explore ten traits displayed by companies that use customer media and content that works to help customers discover their products and to build long term relationships with those who become buyers and users.
Here are six companies we believe are demonstrating some of those traits.
In the current Idea Email, we explore one of Peter Drucker’s most compelling lessons regarding the reason any business exists. (Spoiler alert: It’s customers.)
In examining the dog-eared copy of the Hammock library’s The Essential Drucker, we were reminded of all the great insights he shared over his 60-year career. We were also struck by how many quotes attributed to him for which we can’t find the original source.
But still, he said (and maybe said) some things we really love.
Here are four that we can actually cite where Drucker said or wrote the quotation:
We received the photo below today from our friends in the editorial department of the DAR in Washington, DC, with whom we work in publishing the organization’s national magazine, American Spirit.
Here are the facts about the photo we can piece together.
Rex Hammock, left, is wearing the cap of a Union soldier. While he’s a history buff, we feel somewhat certain that his Alabama and Tennessee roots make this a first. We have also learned that the woman on the right is an actress playing the part of Clara Barton, the angel of the battlefield, and founder of the American Red Cross, the next-door neighbor of the DAR in Washington. (Sidenote: While not related to the photo, we know that Miss Barton was a member of the DAR.)
We understand that the photo was taken at yesterday’s 83rd 92nd annual New York State luncheon at the annual Continental Congress of the DAR. And we’ve received a report from Rex that playing the part of a Union soldier is a great role if you’re on-stage in front of several hundred women from New York state.
Correction: We’ve learned this year’s was the 92nd annual New York luncheon. After a decade of working with our friends at the DAR on fact-checking historical dates, we never cease to be amazed by their ability to track down such information.
At Hammock, we’ve spent several years researching and writing about the role time and context play in the effectiveness of content that organizations create for their customers.
If you blinked, you may have missed it during the avalanche of announcements Apple made on Monday.
