A talk given at Parsons University in November, 2016.

1. How do you build a
world changing brand?

2. Hello!
I am Sean O’Connor
You can find me at
@aseoconnor or at
SeanOConn.org

3. Marketing manager for
the dig ed group
● Designed strategy
for new product
launch
First employee and head
of product at
Mentored.com
● Designed and built
2 products
● Signed up 60k
users
● Sold 4 b2b clients
Worked with Seth Godin
to design and launch
Krpyton.cc
● Built out 10
classes
● Enrolled 20k users
● Shut the project
down
What have I
done?
(aka why should
you listen to me)

4. “ Marketing is no longer about
the stuff that you make, but
about the stories you tell.
— Seth Godin

5. 1
Who’s It For?
Who are you building
your product for?

6. Need vs.
Want
Marketers are in the wants business

7. ● Delight
○ Can we make something that delights you?
● Fear
○ Can we create fear that if you don’t buy this
you will regret it
What kind of
emotions
connect to
people?

8. ● Attention
○ The most scarce resource around
● Trust
○ Why should I believe you?
Why will
they listen?

9. 2
What are you
changing?
Who are you building
your product for?

10. ● Great companies and non profits
cause their customers to change
Who are you
changing
(and how)?

11. How does
Tom’s change
it’s
customers?

12. 3
Permission to
Alert
Marketing is a
privilege, not a right

13. ● Once you’ve changed someone
how do you build the privilege
(permission) to deliver your
message to them?
○ Anticipated, Personal, Relevant
Permission
Marketing

14. ● Amazon
○ Has the trust necessary to
keep your CC on file, to
suggest products to you, etc.
● Cards Against Humanity
○ Launching successful product
after successful product
Examples of
Trust

15. 4
Why will people
talk about it?
Remarkable
products spread

16. ● Share
○ Instead of relying on paid media
to yell at people build something
that people talk about
● Warby Parker
○ When you buy a pair they give a
pair
■ That’s the story, the emotion
Stories that
spread

17. Stories that
spread

18. 5
Action Theory
of Marketing
How do you market in the
connection economy?

19. ● 1. Do you create an emotion?
○ If you don’t create a product that
delights or leverages fear in the
person who uses it, start over
● 2. Does that emotion change
someone?
○ Does it change them in a way
that moves them forward?
Action
theory of
marketing

20. ● 3. Do you earn the privilege to alert
them?
● 4. Can you make it so that people
will choose to share it?
● 5. Is there urgency or scarcity?
Action
theory of
marketing

21. 6
Marketing
Strategy
How are you driving
customers?

22. Most marketing
funnels are leaky.

23. 1,000
500
100
5
Clicks on Ad
Views of Promo Video
Items Added to Shopping Cart
Items Purchased

24. What was my CPA? (Assume a $1 CPC)
1,000
500
100
5
Clicks on Ad
Views of Promo Video
Items Added to Shopping Cart
Items Purchased

25. What was my CPA? (Assume a $1 CPC)
1,000
500
100
5
$1 CPC $1,000 / $1000 = $1
$2 Cost Per View $1,000 / 500 = $2
$10 Cost Per Add to Cart $1,000 / 100 = $10
$200 Cost Per Purchase $1,000 / 5 = $200

26. 7
Project Prompt
Let’s apply
these concepts

27. The Ready to
Drink Coffee
Market is
Booming

28. How can we
capture a
portion of this
market?
Americans spend $21.32/week on coffee.
Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts control ~50% of the
market. The Ready to Drink (RTD) coffee market is
growing at 10% per year.
How do we capture a portion of this?

29. Califia Farms
In the five years since
Califia farms launched
they’ve been growing at
over 100% YoY.
Receptive Market
Of the 76 percent of
Americans not drinking
cold brew coffees at home,
one third (33 percent) say
they have not tried but are
interested in doing so
Demo Trends
● Millennials
account for 55%
of the market
● Men are a key
demo
Competition
The
Coldbrew
Market
Starbucks
Starbucks sells coldbrew
in all of their stores, but
they do not yet sell it in
bottles (like their other
drinks)
Blue Bottle
Blue Bottle’s wholesale
operations account for
20% of their revenues.
High Growth
● 115% YoY growth
● Accounts for 0.4%
of the RTD market
● 24% of consumers
drink cold brew
Market Trends

30. Build a
strategy brief
Questions to Answer
● Who is the product for?
● What emotions are you using?
● What story are you telling?
● How can we gain permission to
market to people?
● Where will it be distributed?
● How much will it cost?
● How will people hear about it?

31. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at
@aseoconnor, SeanOConn.org,
& aseoconnor@gmail.com
Go cause a ruckus.