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Quick story that I promise is actually relevant. When I was watching Kevin Systrom speak about Instagram at the Castro Theater with Kevin Rose back in May, I d

Quick story that I promise is actually relevant. When I was watching Kevin Systrom speak about Instagram at the Castro Theater with Kevin Rose back in May, I distinctly remember one particular question. KR was reading a question from the audience to the two cofounders of Insta: Kevin Rose (Reading a question from the audience): "Hollerback is being called the New Instagram, have either of you used Hollerback?" KR looks around and says, "Hey guys, maybe I'm getting too old for this, but I've never heard of this. Have either of you heard of Hollerback?" Kevin Systrom pipes up, totally confused, "No, I honestly can't say that I have." KR turns to the audience and says "Does anyone use Hollerback?" Complete silence from the audience, crickets even; not one hand goes up. KR looks out on the audience and says "Is that the CEO of Hollerback up there asking this question?" "Yes..." A timid voice is heard to say from the audience. And that my friends is modern guerrilla marketing and how I've heard of Hollerback when they haven't launched yet. Frankly, I thought it was deplorable at the time but in retrospect it did leave an impact on me (whether it was positive or absurdly negative though, I can't tell). I do find it interesting that reading this article made me recall that anecdote so clearly. Branding in action I suppose...

kyro 13y ago
Haha, that is brilliant!
cliveowen 13y ago
It might be mildly interesting, in a whole different context.
1337biz 13y ago
Great story! Hope you don't mind me stealing that one in case I need to illustrate great pre-launch marketing.
- josh2600 13y ago
  No, it's a great one. Feel free :). I don't think it made a good impression on me, but it was definitely memorable.
jacquesm 13y ago
Hehe, classic. That took some guts to owe up to it and sharp of them to call the guy on it. I don't think I would have caught on that quickly, maybe later at night in bed reviewing the day or so.
- josh2600 13y ago
  Kevin Rose is a smart guy. As an aside, I had the pleasure to meet him at Disrupt in 2010 right after the launch of Digg v4. It struck me as an incredibly interesting moment in time (to set the stage, Digg had just flattened their site, removed granular categorization and was now pulling in content automatically while Reddit was, antithetically, doing the complete opposite). I talked with Kevin and it was clear to me that he knew what was at stake and that he was doing his best to deliver what he thought was the right answer. It's sort of like 1984 versus Brave New World. The leader in '84 is sort of a tyrant and we almost universally reject his dictum because of this. In BNW, Huxley's leader genuinely believes that what he's doing is right, and he's not sure, but what he is sure is that he thinks what he's doing is the best way to lead. This was a profound lesson, for me, about management. Even though Kevin Rose was ultimately mistaken about his hypothesis, he executed with conviction and leadership. On some level, you still have to admire the captain of the Titanic, and that's a sort of backhanded way of explaining why I admire Kevin Rose so much. To fail, and rise from the ashes, is one of the most difficult things in the world, but I think Kevin has certainly done it.

kyro 13y ago

Haha, that is brilliant!

cliveowen 13y ago

It might be mildly interesting, in a whole different context.

1337biz 13y ago

Great story! Hope you don't mind me stealing that one in case I need to illustrate great pre-launch marketing.

josh2600 13y ago
No, it's a great one. Feel free :). I don't think it made a good impression on me, but it was definitely memorable.

jacquesm 13y ago

Hehe, classic. That took some guts to owe up to it and sharp of them to call the guy on it. I don't think I would have caught on that quickly, maybe later at night in bed reviewing the day or so.

josh2600 13y ago
Kevin Rose is a smart guy. As an aside, I had the pleasure to meet him at Disrupt in 2010 right after the launch of Digg v4. It struck me as an incredibly interesting moment in time (to set the stage, Digg had just flattened their site, removed granular categorization and was now pulling in content automatically while Reddit was, antithetically, doing the complete opposite). I talked with Kevin and it was clear to me that he knew what was at stake and that he was doing his best to deliver what he thought was the right answer. It's sort of like 1984 versus Brave New World. The leader in '84 is sort of a tyrant and we almost universally reject his dictum because of this. In BNW, Huxley's leader genuinely believes that what he's doing is right, and he's not sure, but what he is sure is that he thinks what he's doing is the best way to lead. This was a profound lesson, for me, about management. Even though Kevin Rose was ultimately mistaken about his hypothesis, he executed with conviction and leadership. On some level, you still have to admire the captain of the Titanic, and that's a sort of backhanded way of explaining why I admire Kevin Rose so much. To fail, and rise from the ashes, is one of the most difficult things in the world, but I think Kevin has certainly done it.