Fifteen years ago this summer — while at a Macworld conference in San Francisco — I started Ciceron. It was pre-bubble, pre-Google, pre-online video, pre-spam, pre-broadband. Definitely social media. Let’s face it. It was pre-everything with the exception of the Netscape browser. Put it this way: my competitors were print shops saying, “Do you want a web site with that print order?”
In 1995, I started this business for several reasons. First, I was a horrible employee. Actual citations for insubordination occurred early in my career. It’s not that I’m a jerk; I just have no inner-dialogue. If I didn’t agree with a superior, well, I often forgot rank. (I take somewhat surreptitious pleasure knowing that quite a few former bosses have become successful clients of Ciceron)
Second, I saw the web as a positive environmental force. I came from the traditional marketing communications field and was tired of seeing the waste of paper, inks, and solvents. The web provided a “guilt free” marketing channel. Still reeling from the idealism of my mid-20s, I liked that.
Last — but most important — the web had firmly put the consumer in charge. As a result, we embraced the notion that it is the responsibility of brands to listen more, talk less, and provide constant value to their constituents. That’s still how the web works today, no matter how much our industry seems to think otherwise.
Today, I couldn’t be more proud of what’s become of Ciceron. Each and every day, we fulfill the promise of delivering value not only to our customers but to theirs as well.
Do I think Ciceron is redefining marketing for our customers? I do. At least that’s what I’ve been told. Executives from our client companies, who once thought marketing was a necessary but somewhat painful expenditure, now look at marketing as one of their most important investments. Not only are they gaining new customers through our work together, they’re gaining the most valuable by-product of the digital marketplace: real-time intelligence. In an economy that moves as fast as it does these days, having actionable intelligence can mean the difference between the life or death of a brand.
Ciceron is comprised of some of the most talented and dare I say pleasant digital marketing superstars on the planet. They work hard. But they know when not to take themselves too seriously. We enjoy our work and it shows.
For all of these reasons, I love this company. And I hope you will too when you begin working with us.
‘Social Media’ and marketing accountability are the two of the most-important forces taking place in business right now. And yet, very few companies understand why and how to grab the opportunities. We do.
