Hello @Dermot , PNF team , DAO members-
The Reddit post was the tipping point for me to create this need.
This post is neither an endorsement nor disapproval of the Reddit proposal and budget.
It is related but broadly redraws attention to the dismal situation of marketing and narrative building in Pocket, and tries to suggest a path forward.
Apologies in advance for the candor below.
@b3n, your question is right but the concerns driving the question may have different explanations in marketing.
I don’t want to belabour this point and make it the centre of the conversation. But here are a few thoughts to ponder over, why I stated what I stated above-
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Few may find ads during Super Bowl & ads in Times Square exorbitant, get stuck in analysing the true value they bring versus their rates, and therefore not buy those ads. But that doesn’t mean those ads are not valuable, and their rates won’t keep going up because of excessive demand. In fact Super Bowl ads are still considered undervalued despite being the priciest.
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Marketing and Sales (such as) have distinct roles. And the way to measure success in marketing is not the same as in sales.
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There may not be a uniform system to measure value to the network by different kinds of contributors. It may also differ by function as #2 states.
Readers could straightaway start here because this is the core-
- In Pocket, marketing is either completely absent, disjointed, or mismanaged.
It has been like this since the time of PNI. I had raised concerns then and that was 3-4 quarters ago. Unfortunately nothing has changed.
This should be a grave cause for concern unless people believe that marketing is redundant.
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Pocket needs a marketing management team, an overarching marketing plan that is cohesive and a healthy marketing budget first. Waiting to react to bottom up dispersed contributions coming up serendipitously (however good they maybe) is not the way to prioritise and drive anything that has been widely accepted as one of the worst weaknesses since inception, if not the worst.
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Being a node runner, developer, data scientist, mathematician, physicist doesn’t automatically qualify anyone for making good decisions in marketing.
Entry barriers are seemingly low since everything appears “just English” and “commonsense” unlike let’s say in Computer Science.
But it’s a different craft and skill set; definitely requires a supporting mindset that might at times conflict with a pure developer mindset.
The community in Pocket needs to appreciate and respect the distinction.
This is not to censor discourse, curiosity and questions.
Plus every DAO member irrespective of their background and expertise has the right to exercise their votes on any issue.
It’s a silent and respectful way to “stay within our scope of expertise” beyond a point and let those who might be able to do a better job handle it, specially at the soutioning stage.
I feel that’s a better and more organised way to exploit the wisdom of the crowd.
Call to Action:
- I changed my recommendation a bit. Instead of 1 full-timer, create a marketing committee of 3-5 (not more) selected individuals. A committee should be able to garner consensus better than an individual, especially when it comes to getting DAO approvals for budgets. Also hopefully will lead to better decision-making.
At least to start with in 2023.
- Daniel (PNI) should ideally be one of them, for at least the 1st 3-6 months of its formation. The committee requires an outside perspective and someone who is a career-marketer.
There were announcements that Daniel will work with PNF and help out from an overall protocol perspective- #b is inline with those expectations set.
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Someone from PNF should ideally be one of the 3-5 members.
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So 3 community members + Daniel (PNI) + 1 PNF. Committee members (from the community) could be paid or volunteers, ideally paid to have accountability.
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The committee creates a quarterly plan and budget, and gets DAO’s approval. The DAO to empower the committee as the designated expert of this function, and goes with the committee suggestions on debatable line items in the plan.
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All new & existing resources, contributors, platforms, tools, agencies, budgets, partnerships to be supervised by this committee.
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Quarterly (not weekly or monthly) reporting back to the DAO. Marketing takes time, especially when it needs to be built from almost ground zero.
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Maintain this committee, quarterly cycle for planning, budgeting, execution and reporting in 2023.
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Decide changes about 2024 in Q4, 23- primarily team structure and budget
This is not to wait for the killer strategy but to-
- Act immediately; demand urgency & priority to marketing
- Make progress (do-something) in marketing over status quo, which is dismal
- Learning by Doing- PDCA (Plan, Do, Act & Check in 2023)
- Maybe pave the way to creating mini-PNFs within the DAO for specialised functions (starting with marketing)
PNF has to take a leadership role to set the stage. I don’t see this happening organically through ad hoc community initiatives.
Set the stage, create a structure and give a direction first before bottom up initiatives can be fostered and can flourish.
I can help out on a voluntary basis whenever possible.
Thank you.