Regis McKenna
Next on stage at the WebEx User Conference was Regis McKenna, marketer extraordinaire. This is the guy who helped launch America Online, Apple, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Intel, Linear Technology, Lotus, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, Silicon Graphics, 3COM, and many others.
Regis is my kind of marketer. He published an article in Harvard Business Review that claimed "Marketing is everything." His focus on time played a role in me naming my company Internet Time Group.
Since I've read all his books, it shouldn't have come as a surprise that Regis's thinking directly parallels mine.
Marketing evolves as it involves.
The goal of marketing is to build and sustain relationships with buyer and seller, and to expand and sustain those relationships over time.
In 2002, humans created 5 exobytes of new informaiton (that's about as many bytes as the earth has ants.)
Marketing is being redefined as a learning process.
Moore's Law is behind the ascendence of value-added services.
Robert Putnam (Bowling Alone) wrote that the Net made possible "drive-by relationships."
Marketing is everybody's job.
Starbucks is in the real estate business. In Silicon Valley, there's a Starbucks inside another Starbucks.
Regis pulled a few gadgets out of his pockets, noting that he'd given his 10 year old granddaughter an i-Mac. Upon receiving it, she turned it on and said, "Life is good." She has a cell phone, too.
Regis pulled a transistor out of his pocket. Next he held up a tiny chip that contained 500 million transistors. And after that, a vial that contained 1.5 billion nanodevices.
Of course, I had to find a way to talk with this guy, so I followed him behind the curtain. Handing my camera to someone in the crowd, we posed for a picture. Damn. Eyes closed again. At least this will give me an excuse to try to force my way into see Regis once more.
Posted by Jay Cross at March 1, 2004 07:51 PM | TrackBack
I worked with and around Regis for a number of years. I was his advertising account guy on Apple and Intel from 1978 through 1982 and ran his Paris office as we launched Apple in Europe. I still speak with him and gain from his insights ... as you have. Looking at the photograph, that is why Regis is Regis. He is always prepared. He looks at the camera and holds the pose until it's done. He doesn't react to anything until the thing he is focused on finishes. That is a key thing to learn from that experience. Going "back" to Regis to get a new photo for example would not be good given this one. He also dresses well these days! :-) Regards, Bill
Posted by: Bill Delaney at July 13, 2004 02:54 PM
