All hail the Keynote
Like many others around the world late yesterday London time I was refreshing the gizmodo blog of the Steve Jobs Keynote , with perhaps an equal interest both in the content and the style.What a great way to return to the world following several weeks family vacation escaping a rather grey London in beautiful Shaker Heights Ohio, and a Caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess.
Whilst the Macbook Air , the newly announced ultra thin laptop (fits in an envelope) is interesting for a whole lot of reasons (including the absence of any disk drive – software is to be installed over the air either via the web, or via another person’s optical drive), there were a couple of points worth reflecting on from a marcomms perspective.
Of course, a Steve Jobs Keynote is always something to learn from – to observe what some refer to as to the Job’s reality distortion field. However, from the perspective of generating internal buzz, and launching internal knowledge management initiatives, the Apple marketing machine does provide some ideas.
First, there is a rhythmic sense to the keynotes – something amazing will be delivered which is shrouded in secrecy, which generates a pre buzz. There is a clear release cycle, rather than perhaps the somewhat adhoc release cycles to software, upgrades and systems within firms. That pre buzz is then carefully managed. Two days out from the event the apple website bore a large graphic with the tagline “There’s something in the air”. The banners went up in the venue, and photos circled the world in blogs.
When Jobs opens the keynote, as always, very clear sign posting – today I am going to tell you about four things. Whether it be an address to a college graduating class, or to the Keynote crowd, this technique, in a very personal and engaging style is classic Jobs. When we reflect on our own presentation style, is it as clearly signposted and accessible for the audience. Are we as humbly enthusiastic – and thankful? When you watch the video, you will see that before moving into the products Jobs takes a moment to say thanks in a very authentic way.
Next of course is the great clarity of the slides produced in the most under priced application of all time, Apple’s Keynote. Review the slides on the gizmodo blog, and also in the full screen presentation of the recording of the session and ask yourself what’s stopping you getting to the same standard of communication clarity in sharing your knowledge. Simple. Elegant. Wonderful.
As soon as the speech was finished, the video passed to the apple website, and then the new website material then went live – where video snippets and introductions are the major content carriers – rather than text to read. A significant shift has been going on with apple product announcements where short video segments, quite personal in nature, and now taking the leadership position in communicating messages – and are the first thing I click on when trying to get a sense of the material. These are not tiny small box videos, but quite compelling high quality, large size pieces. In a knowledge management context – is this not the standard to aim for in a pithy 5 minute overview for associates joining a major client team, or a short intro into a type of transaction?
The sequence of rhythm, buzz, buzz marcomms, elegant signposted presentation, instant web availability and release of complete comms kit is a sequence which we might be well to consider in the context of both transferring knowledge and increasing the velocity of transfer of knowledge within our organisations, and also as a communications approach in relation to knowledge management initiatives.
Do take the time to watch the video and reflect.
Oh, and check Steve’s smile. He is having FUN, and is deeply proud of what his team has achieved, their innovation, their relationships with content providers, their skill. My new years wish for you is that a smile of such intensity may appear on your face many times this year.
Oh, and Santa has a year to save for the new things I would love to see in my stocking…. Watch the Keynote and be amazed.
Happy new year.
