Jennifer Rice

Keeping our business relevant.

Clicker question: What business are you in?
2% Books
48% Information
3% Free access
36% Learning
11% Something else

Your business is more than information.
Google is the 800 pound gorilla for libraries?

Clicker question: What is a Brand?
Name and logo
Something a bunch of marketers dreamed up
4% An ad message
77% Reputation

Brand=Reputation
A Brand is Distinctive, Deliverable, Desirable.
What unmet need, can you deliver on?

6 major consumer trends that impact everyone...including libraries:
1. Convenience (Fast food, Delivery, Concierge services)
2. Community ("I want to belong." grassroots, collaborative economy. Bowling Alone Maslow's hierarchy.)
3. Control ("I want to learn it and do it myself." The era of empowerment.) Empowering brands: Nike, Google, Home Depot "You can do it, we can help."
4. Choice ("I've got to have options." Age of abundance...Choice maximizers." The Paradox of Choice
Choice-maximizing brands: Google, eBay, Amazon, Netflix
Convenience and Choice are things that people are willing to pay for.
They'll tell you Free is important--but when push comes to shove, I'm willing to pay.
5. Experience ("Wow me." Word of Mouth marketing--you'll listen to your friends, but not to advertising. Your actions are your marketing. Commoditization--The internet has commoditized information--but it cannot commoditize an experience: taste, touch, smell, sight, service. The senses in your library...put a fountain in?
Experiential brands: Starbucks, Dave & Busters, Niketown, Borders (Edu-tainment)
6. "Trendy." Great brands are trendy.

Clicker question: Where is the opportunity for libraries?
12% Convenience
36% Community
2% Control
12% Choices
38% Experience

Where should libraries start?
Start with the Sense of Community and the Experience. Build on your strengths.
Then fill in the blanks, with teamwork (like Google). Google's not an enemy--it's just a tool that sits on a computer.

Online library card? How can you make your patron's life easier?

One idea: Rather than being in the "information business," think of libraries as being in the "community learning experience" business.