STOP…Forth Revolution

During some friendly banter the other evening with Mike Stopforth of Cerebra, Afrigator and 27Dinner (holy-moly that's a lot of links) I realized something:

Mike, along with a few others in SA, aren't just carving out a niche in a market … they are actually carving the market itself!

This has some serious CONS … but obviously once they get this right, and I have no doubt that they have/will, there are serious PROS.

So what are the CONS?

Getting the target market to convince themselves (which is important) that they not only want, but also desperately NEED these unique services.
Feeding oneself and one's family while waiting for the target market to finally convince themselves of the above...and pay for it
Becoming so synonymous with this niche that it's difficult to transition to anything else later on (similar to child movie stars I guess … no, Mike you are NOT a child movie star)

So what are the PROS?

Not having a rule book to follow and actually letting sense (I didn't say "common sense" because it's not that common) dictate your next move.
Waking up each morning … damn it can be exciting
Becoming so synonymous with this niche that you never have to transition to anything else later on (momentum is a wonderful thing, it may even beat compound interest at times)

Obviously there are many other pros and cons (feel free to add them via the comments section below), but … I have no doubt that if you asked Mike, or any of the other artisans working so hard on carving this market, "Would you rather be doing anything else?" the answer is likely to be a resounding …

NO!

Comments

[Nic]

Nice post, I dig the angle. However I think that some of your pros can be listed in both the pro and con categories.

For example: "Becoming so synonymous with this niche that you never have to transition". What happens when that niche is no longer? Then you are no longer.

"Not having a rule book to follow and actually letting sense (I didn't say "common sense" because it's not that common) dictate your next move." I love this one, it's why I love my job and the industry we are in. However with that said, the margin for error becomes incredibly low because if you are writing the rule book then you are the one who looks like a fool if the rules are wrong, don't work out or prove to be less fruitful than you initially thought.

This market is one of onus. The onus is on us, on you, on Mike and unfortunately not on the client/advertiser/product.

[Mike]

Wow - thanks for the mention Paul. Firstly I guess it's important to note that I am in no way responsible for the social media 'revolution' or 'evolution' in any way, I feel more like a strategically positioned remora fish on the scales of a big-ass Great White.

Two years ago we (Cerebra) really did pay school fees trying to get people to see the value behind the hype of Web 2.0. There are still skeptics and rightly so, any new trend / innovation needs it's naysayers to keep it sensible. These days the tide has seemingly turned and we're more reacting to the interest of big business than seeding it - a nice place to be.

Still, I'm always aware that it could all be pulled out from underneath me and my team at any point in time - small businesses often suffer fates that counter their potential due to outside influences, mismanagement, etc. which has bugger all to do with Web 2.0 :)

So in short, thanks for the mention and here's to entrepreneurial silliness!

[Slade]

Too true!

It takes big "B" to write the rules - but as long as its always a work in progress. :-)

[Eve Dmochowska]

Excellent observations. Indeed, there are no rules. There are also not that many people looking for the rules, which is a bit of a bummer.

Mike is being modest when he says he is not responsible for the evolution/revolution of smedia in SA. I beg to differ. I think he is a formidable driving force behind people slowly waking up the potential of participation.

Also, I do not think that Mike, or anyone else who is active in this space (including Nic and me) should worry about having the carpet pulled out from under them. If we have learned anything, it is the quick art of adaptation. And we are ahead of the curve. So as long as we keep our wits about us (sometimes tough, I agree!) and as long as nobody pulls the plug on the Internet, we should always have the advantage of knowing more about this "stuff" than the late adopters. And we all know there are plenty of those in South Africa!

[SaulK]

Great post but I think you've missed some fundamentals.
Firstly it's unlikely that one man can push a revolution. I'm not saying Mike isn't brilliant and at the helm of arguably the most innovative company in the country but saying he is the only factor is naive.

There are other factors involved:

1) From an economic point of view the Internet is hundreds of more times more accessible as well as faster. This is obviously going to help an "Internet" revolution. Companies will be more attuned to using the Cerebra services when they hear how popular the likes of Facebook are.

2) Despite better Internet penetration the bulk of people in our country are still connecting via their cellphones. Services such as MxIT and Facebook have captured this market very successfully which makes the more popular. Due to their popularity everyone and their granny wants to jump on that marketing bandwagon.

3) I could go on ad-nauseum about how due to the economy slow down people spend more time at home and on the Internet but you get my drift right?

Also, I disagree with Nic's CONS for the simple reason that if Mike's company is on the cutting edge of creating these niche services it's vastly unlikely that they will sit an stagnate. Far from this they will be creating a new niche and so on in perpetuity. Innovativeness breeds innovativeness I suppose.

Keep up the good work Mike (and Paul for that matter), the SA Blogosphere is (Obsessively?) behind you!

[Nic]

@Saul on your third point: Ye I'm sure that's what innovators and revolutionaries said before the web 1 bubble burst and they all ended up broke... It can die, it has died before and it is possible that our industry could be dead again.

[Vince]

Very good points Paul; I'm sure you could have carried on and on about the possible merits and demerits of entering into this; a fluid and often wild business space to be in.

I think what fascinates me most; as a researcherin the marketing world I'd be on the end of the causal chain, between development of concept, its implementation and then target market's reaction to it. Herein lays what I've coined "The Awesomeness"; slowly but surely Web 2.0 marketing is working!

You'd of course not be amazed if I quantified the data, as Eve said you're all perhaps early adopters, but well screw numbers I deal only with words, and its looking real good! Imagine a brand managers face when he hears, his direct / interruptive marketing campaign tanked and his brand is being promoted by rugby drinking beer guzzlers online, or a campaign to drive prestige (with ads) which is superseded by a viral marketing campaign which spread on a facebook group or a single well worded mail..

Lets just say, I cross over into both worlds, and when I see old-school brandies jaws drop and slam uncomfortably on the floor lets just say I sing I'm in heaven..in heaven..

[Tim Shier]

Great post!

I think there are two things which are happening here:

1) Internet usage and availability is increasing in SA at an ever increasing rate – so those who helped develop the market are now reaping the rewards
2) Cerebra (and a handful of other companies) saw this opportunity, set themselves up and are now riding the proverbial wave.

The action of carving the market is a fundamental marketing function (certainly in South Africa's underdeveloped online environment) but I must agree with Eve - there are many players who have each done their bit to educate and evolve the market which, I certainly believe, is for the collective good.

[SaulK]

@Nic: The really good stuff such as E-bay and Amazon are still around from the Web 1.0 bubble. If your business is built on something tangible not something ridiculous you've got no problem.

[Edward Roland]

hi Sladie.

I love the innovative thoughts! You have hits from some wierd and wonderful places! YOU'RE A MACHINE! please give me a shout about some implementation I need done.

Ed

[Slade]

EVERYONE ... Thank you very much for taking the time to read, and posting the comments.

Saulk - Def not saying that Mike is the only one responsible. Each of the contributors (including yourself) are contributing to the revolution! As for "ad-nausium" ... I hope you are taking something for that ... JK

Hope to see MANY of you at the 27Dinner in JHB this month (on the 28th for a change)