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December 17-23, 2007 M ississippi Business journal A

L e t 's t r y m a s h in g u p m a r k e t in g m ix b y in t r e d u c in g s i x t l i P : P i a yA busy 50-year-old execu-tive tumed me into a werewolf.A renowned product designerpoked one of my friends.Welcome to the businessside of Facebook-where playreleases stress, where company

thought leaders plug into indus-try-wide forums, and wheredeepening client relationships,establishing networks andattracting talent happen as a by-product of having fun.Meanwhile, over on secondlife.com, leading con-sumer-focused and business-to-business companies arespending energy and money running virtual organiza-tions. Their new existence is rooted in delight; noticethe verbs in the process: they create an avatar, exploreand have fun. Serious companies such as IBM, Bain,Coke and hundreds of others are leading tbis chargeinto this playground.These days even the austere Ne w Yorker invites read-ers to play with its hallowed cartoons via its weeklyCartoon Caption Contest, where readers submit, via the

W e b . a caption for a cartoon visual.Down the street from New Yorker headquarters, atthe Niketown Lab, consumers actually design tbeir ownshoes. The online feature of this lab generates tbree mil-lion unique visitors a month.The once immutable laws of marketing haverelaxed. The examples above, and thousands of otbers.signify that a command center approach of marketingcommunications is outmoded. Building a brand with

public relations and amassing expert credentials willwork not alone. For example, as an avid reader andsometimes writer. I trust the consumer reviews on ama-zon.com more than a handful of book jacket biurbs. Infact, I have never read a bad blurb.invitat ions to piay

Everywhere companies are encouraging us tobecome a part of tbeir culture by inviting us to play, toparticipate, to opine. Where is the communications fire-wall set up by the legal and PR departments? Wbat isgoing on?What bas cbanged in marketing? Everything.In this era of interaction, the ability to play with abrand, product or service is a critical factor in winningnew customers and retaining existing ones. The aboveexamples are not merely clever promo tions. Like tbe uni-verse, marketing always expands.Tbe marketing mix once the four Ps of Product,Place, Price and Promotions, later upgraded to the five Pswith the addition of Positioning now welcomes thesixth P, Play.As consumers and buyers, we want the power tochoose our options and to control the experience. Weexpect to try things out, to squeeze the Try Me button ona SpinBrush toothbrusb before throwing it in the cart.Marketing has merged with technology, making theuser experience the benchmark of success. Market lead-ers understand that in a fragmented culture the best wayto establish leadership is provide a way for people feelsafe to explore, to play, to try out everything from soft-ware to food to consulting m ethodologies before buying.

D r i v i n g choicesCompanies that invite us to play invite us to maktbeir offerings our own, and tben we buy and "tell friend" about it. Perbaps we even syndicate it on Digor back to Facebook.Increasingly, peer recommendations drive thchoices buyers make.When you let your audience play with your brandthey become part of it. They volunteer for your armyTbey recommend your product or service. Play is aimperative for comp anies wanting to lead.Our global culture demands playfulness for company to become an icon, and thus reach i ts market potential .Make sure your company's marketing mix incorporates this P no matter bow dry or tecbnical the industryTo lead, you must encourage and enable play.One early reader of this article commented thaPlay may not play out in the financial industry. To heI will end by noting that I just com pared m ovie tasteon Facebook with a senior VP from a major lendininstitution, a former client. Another friend a venturcapitalist tumed me into a vampire, then sent me private post. He is ready to play, and that could measerious business.

Michael G raber is the managing partner of thSouthern Growth Studio, which helps companies prosper with a pragmatic application of brand marketinand product innovation. The Oxford-based firm ionline at www.southerngrowthstudio.com.

L e t t e r t o t h e M is s is s ipp i Bus ine s s J o u r n a lK u d o s f o r M B J 's M i s s i s s i p p i N E X TDear Editor,

Great article in the November 19th issue of the Mississippi Business Journalabout your Mississippi NEXT publication. I too believe that to whom mucb is given,much is expected and it was refreshing to read your article in that regard and to givethanks for that blessing. I also agree that the concepts being promoted bySuperintendent of Education Hank Bounds are a step in the right direction forMississippi youth. We all face a challenge in keeping young people motivated andinspired to succeed in school and beyond strongly encouraging the college path.More and more this challenge is getting younger and younger particularly so,when you consider that sixth grade has been pinpointed as a determinant in the suc-cess of some male youth in and beyond high school.The Web site MSNEXT.com is a great tool and will interest and encourage ouryoutb in that direction. I'm spreading the word about it to all of my friends and family.I hope that the guide book will be available in all Mississippi sc hools but especially inthe public sector.

However, in today's world where technology looms we must also look torefresh and renew the classroom approach. Children today are not inclined to sit stillfor a lecture in the classrooms of old but must instead be given hands-on , techno-logically driven approaches to drive forward into the future. This approach willrequire that we all embrace a new thought process and that we better prepare andtrain our teachers for this new way of teaching. I think this is in line with Dr. Boundspromotion of workforce training for high school kids and in the long run will help tomake for a better Mississippi.

Thanks for your article and continue to be a voice and an advocate for better edu-cation both public and private for all of Mississippi's children.Monica Gilmore-LoveMississippi bom and raisedMSU Graduate {Go Dawgs)Mother of 3 in Mississippi Public Schoolssent via e-mail

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