I’m obsessed with the next big thing. I want to beta test any app I can get my hands on. I invest in companies who aren’t afraid to push the limit. I scribble down even the craziest idea because you just never know.

I’ve certainly seen tons of companies and individuals make the next big thing a reality. It is inspiring to watch a product or concept go from a napkin sketch to reality.

Just this week, I read about Sharpie’s new Liquid Pencil. The tool writes just like a pen, erases like a pencil for three days and then becomes permanent like traditional ink. How awesome is that? That is the kind of innovation I love reading about — the next big thing.

However, every time I read about a new writing utensil, a new banking system, or any other far-out idea, I can’t help but cringe a little bit. It’s not reading about the ideas that is frustrating — it is wondering what else is out there that I’m not reading about.

I’m sure when some product manager or research guru at Sharpie proposed the idea of a non-erasable pencil with time sensitive ink it wasn’t greeted with open arms. When Twitter engineer Alex Payne left the company to co-found a startup focused on simply making a “bank that doesn’t suck,” eyebrows were raised.

The next big thing is never easy or obvious. In fact, it usually finds more jeers than cheers. It is upsetting to think about how many awesome ideas never graduate from a boardroom table or a dusty garage shelf.

Moreover, it is  arguably more difficult now than ever before to pursue the next big thing. The economy is crippled. Gadgets can’t be opened up without voiding half a dozen warranties. Societal expectations are large.

A lot of times it makes more sense to let an idea slowly die.

Fortunately, the great innovators all understood that chasing the next big thing meant taking a few (sometimes giant) leaps of faith. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates both famously dropped out of college. Thomas Edison was fired for experimenting with lead-acid batteries. Only 12 out of 140 potential bidders thought Vint Cerf’s ARPANet was worth their time in 1968.

The risks are widespread when it comes to pursuing an idea.  But the greater danger lies in abandoning the quest for knowledge and the curiosity that has helped make so many people and companies successful.

Photo by: swamibu

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If BP could go back in time, I’m sure they would do a lot of things differently. Maybe there was no way to stop the disastrous oil spill from happening. Maybe they really are doing all they can to clean up the Gulf Coast. But they undoubtedly wish they had done a better job at talking about the spill and informing the public, especially through online channels.

With all of the applications and studies surely to come of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one of the more fascinating is BP’s reputation management. Here’s a look at some of my thoughts about BP’s post-spill campaign from a social media perspective:

The Good

Streaming video of recovery efforts

Sending out a press release and alerting news crews about your oil recovery tactics is sooo 20th century. Using technology to stream a live video feed of robots attempting to fix an oil leak miles below the ocean surface is more like it. People didn’t have to read about what BP was doing to fix the problem; they would watch it themselves. It was a move that used the web to showcase BP’s transparency and willingness to go to great lengths to fix the leak. And let’s face it…watching a giant robot with a saw for an arm cut through a pipe 30,000 feet below the oceans surface is just plain cool.

The Bad

Twitter presence

The Twitter account @BPGlobalPR has managed to accumulate almost 200,000 followers, regularly interacts with them, and has even made a killing selling BP t-shirts. So why isn’t this a good thing? Because @BPGlobalPR is really a spoof account of BP and pokes fun at the company with regular tweets. BP’s actual Twitter account has a measly 19,000 followers. Ouch. The fake BP account has been cited in the LA Times, CNET, The Huffington Post, and ABC News, among others. Twitter has been a disaster for BP.

The Ugly

Altering the content of photos in Photoshop

Most of BP’s faults in their reputation management campaign online can be chalked up to lack of knowledge or, perhaps, inexperience. But not the manipulation of photos. BP’s creation of a Flickr account with photos of the cleanup was actually a good move. People were able to see the action as it was going on and photos a great way to bring the action home to people. With a highly public case like this one, however, BP should have been extra careful when choosing freelancers and editing photos. Once a blogger discovered that several photos had been (poorly) edited, word spread quickly. It is never a good thing when your company’s most viewed album on Flickr is titled “BP Altered Images.”

****

In this digital age, it is so much harder to put out PR fires and bury miscues than it used to be. If you are a popular company and you mess up, people are going to talk and word is going to spread. While the web gives companies the potential to reach a massive audience, it also carries the risk that the massive audience will either witness or discover a mistake. Just take a glance at these charts showing BP’s online presence before and after the leak.

Before: April 2010

BP January 2010

After: July 2010

BP April 2010

This kind of social power lets companies who know what they are doing reinvent their brand overnight. Take Old Spice for example. Their “Old Spice guy” campaign has gone viral and sales are up 107 percent. A poorly managed online brand, on the other hand, can destroy a company’s reputation even faster.

Check out our reputation management services to keep tabs on what people are saying about you online.

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As I wrote about in my Brainwashing at Abercrombie post, there’s got to be a reason why Abercrombie sprays so much perfume in their stores. I drew the conclusion that smell jogs emotional memory. It goes a bit deeper than that, though…

Roger at Neuromarketing cites a study that finds scented products have better recall than unscented ones. And ambient scent (as in an entire store reeking of cologne) increases recall of all products, but doesn’t help in recall of individual ones. In other words you’d remember a specific Abercrombie T-shirt more vividly if nothing else in the store smelled, but you’ll remember the entire store better because the environment has a distinct smell.

Magazines have this figured out. That Cosmopolitan with the Ralph Lauren perfume stands out on the newsstand compared to unscented competitors. But if the whole aisle smelled of perfume, that wouldn’t make your choice any easier. You’d remember the aisle compared to other ones you’ve been in, though.

So how can you use this in your marketing? If you can attach a smell to one particular product you offer, you will stand out in the marketplace (like the scented magazine on the rack). If you run a store and want to separate yourself from competing stores, an ambient aroma (à la Abercrombie) could help your customers remember you better.

We’re still working on applying this to the internet :-).

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When your customers already know and like you, make it easy for them to pick by reducing their choices.

If you’re as rich as Bill Gates you can do anything. Feel like flying to Tahiti? Queue up your jet and go. Can’t decide between shirts? Buy one of each, all of them, or the entire chain if you want. The possibilities are endless.

They are for you too, actually. Think of all the things you could do, right now, that you don’t.

From Central PA you can be in New York City, Washington DC, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, or Atlantic City in the time it takes you to go to dinner and a movie. Technically nothing’s stopping you - but you’re far more likely to go on a date in your hometown than explore somewhere you’ve never been.

Now think of your life in the eyes of a  favela kid in Rio. You can drive a normal American car from the Atlantic to the Pacific for about $400, which is only around four days’ wages for the average American household. You’re Bill Gates to Paolo, but you’re not happy as you imagine Bill Gates to be.

Why?

Because too much choice paralyzes us.

We’ve all stood wide-eyed in front of a shampoo wall at the grocery store, trying to pick the one we want. If Wal-Mart only carried one brand, the question we’d ask ourselves changes from “Which shampoo do I get?” to “Should I get shampoo or not?”  The latter is obviously a much easier choice, and we’d feel more satisfied after making it.

Woot.com takes full advantage of limiting choice. They sell one product per day and nothing else. You either want it or you don’t, no deciding involved. I’d never be in the market for a $150 onion knife but because it’s on Woot.com I at least considered it.

Think about reducing choice with your products and services. Once you’ve demonstrated value, change your customers’ question from “Which option do I pick?” to (the already proven) “Should I buy here or not?”. This is easy when you have a strong brand or a strong sales team. See Apple.

People don’t like to be told they can’t do something, but they’re less stressed out when they only have a few options. Help them out!

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Once valuable things get commoditized, smart businesses find creative ways to earn revenue.

Record companies got fat over selling people a whole album of music based on the success of a couple singles. The music couldn’t be separated from the media it came on, so albums were sold just like shoes.

Now, a song on a CD is the same on iTunes and on BitTorrent. Music is everywhere, and everyone can get music if they want it. Just google “[name of song] youtube”. It’s not exclusive, so it’s cheap.

What is exclusive? Concerts.

The band can only be in one place at a time and people know it. So they are willing to pay for the privelege of seeing the band in person.

Most business authors work like this too. Big time names like Seth Godin update their blogs all the time and their books bring some royalties. But they make a killing from their 5 to 6 figure speaking fees.

You can hear what they have to say for no or little cost, but “the show” of having them come speak to you will cost a premium. And people pay it, because it’s worth it.

So what’s your show? How can you create an exclusive experience that people will love paying for, in an age where information is steadily devalued?

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