Hugh Garry

SXSW: Zappos Do Epic S**T

Yesterday I went to a panel on ‘being interesting’, an hour long conversation that could be summed up in one simple sentence, ‘Do epic shit and people will like you'. It’s not a new idea yet it still astounds me how brands just have not got it yet.

Today Tony Hsieh, a CEO that certainly does get it, delivered a keynote on how he has fostered a culture at Zappos.com whereby extraordinary customer service is the norm. Zappos is an online clothing store that doesn’t do advertising. No banner ads, no magazine ads, no TV ads, just $1 billion sales per year based on word of mouth and repeat customers.

He talked about how “good deeds can help you leverage the power of your audience to massively extend your brand”... Or in other words, he does epic shit.

To give you an example of Zappos ‘epic shit’ here are a few notes.

• To ensure that the people he hired want to be a part of the Zappos culture, he offers every new employee after training $2,000 to quit. Only 3% take the money.
• Shipping is free both ways with a 365 days per year return policy.
• With a free shipping both ways, 365 day return policy they encourage people to order 2 items if they are unsure of size and are happy to pick up double shipping costs.
• Twitter is part of Zappos' training. About 400 of their 700 Vegas employees are on Twitter because he believes it builds trust amongst colleagues.
• Occasionally they give their customers secret upgrades by giving them next day delivery (even if the order comes in at midnight).
• If they are out of stock they will find the customers request on a competitors site and talk them through the process of ordering from their competitor.
• View the telephone as a branding device.

What came across especially is how important the culture of the company is and how happiness for both himself and his employees plays a huge part in ensuring the culture is right. Hseis talked about Zappos’ 10 core values and outlines 7 steps to building a successful brand, both of which can be found below.

10 committable core values

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

7 steps to building a successful brand

1. Decide if you are willing to build a long-term, sustainable brand.
2. Figure out your values sooner rather than later. Build a team whose personal vales are aligned with corporate values.
3. Commit to transparency.
4. Chase the vision, not the money.
5. Build relationships (as opposed to networking).
6. Build your team thoughtfully.
7. Think long-term.

Quotes

“People may not remember what you said or did, but they will always remember how you made them feel”

"Luck is about being able to see tasks beyond how they are presented"

"If you get the culture right the rest will just happen naturally"

"Whatever you're thinking, think bigger"

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” (African proverb)

“Zappos is about delivering happiness, whether it's to customers or to employees”

“The telephone is one of the best branding devices out there. You have the customer's undivided attention for 5 to 10 minutes”

“Employees to customers became missionaries for the brand”

“The plus side to being open is having 15,000 pairs of eyes working for you that are not on the payroll”

“I prefer just meeting interesting people than networking”

Check out this excellent visualisation of Tony's talk

Management tips? Buy a baton

It would appear that there isn't anything you can't learn from Conductors. Following my earlier post about Benjamin Zander I beg anyone in a management position to watch this talk by Itay Talgam.

When he gave this presentation at Picnic08 the conference saw its first ever standing ovation, whilst Al Gore has described it as the best management talk he'd ever seen. In this instance music makes a great metaphor with the conductor's role in managing an orchestra providing many lessons for anyone that manages a team.

There are some incredible clips of many great conductors, but one in particular of Leonard Bernstein talking to a group of young students really struck a chord. He clearly has a magnificent presence and makes a huge impact in both how he speaks and what he conveys to he orchestra through physical performance. He empowers the musicians by telling them "Your world is larger than you think'. As a true leader he helps them get an understanding of not where they are but where they can be. For me this is the greatest skill you could wish for as a manager and one my former boss Dan Heaf had in abundance.

On Tuesday I went over to the Media Center to give a 'Masterclass' to some TV people. I was talking about Shoot The Summer to anyone with an interest in UGC and mobile. After my talk a couple of guys currently making a youth orientated show using mobiles stopped behind to chat about how I got the best out of the audience. I couldn't express enough how important it was for me to spend some time with the people before I gave out the phones. In some cases I know that they wanted to capture something really good for me because they were so happy I had shown any interest in them, bothered to spend some time with them and even struck up a friendship. When I told one festival goer that I found him far more interesting than any DJ or artist I's spoken to that weekend he cried. He just couldn't believe that he could be of interest to anyone from the BBC. For one moment I'd made his world much larger than he ever thought it could be.

What was interesting about the guys making the TV show was that when I asked them what was the aim of the project they said "To get as many people as possible to send in their videos". When I asked them "why as many people as possible" they had no answer. It seems like the first rule of UGC is 'more = better'. For me the opposite was true in making Shoot The Summer. The 'less = better' rule allowed me the time and space to meet the people and make their world feel larger.

Managing UGC and the people that create it is something we need to master and understanding how to strike the right balance between control and freedom will be a huge challenge. I think that in trying to find the answer I'll spend more time with some conductors. What they don't know you could write on the back of a fag packet.