Somewhere inside this whole mess with Charlie (”winner”) Sheen, producer Chuck (”my way or the highway”) Lorre, Warner Bros and CBS which stand to make/lose tens of millions lies some big business and marketing lesson.  I’m just not sure which one is the most interesting.

Biggest Two and a half Men Marketing Issues:  Vote for your choice

There’s the PR / damage control.  The threat of losing a major cash cow.  The impact of a tarnished key product that makes selling other products much easier.  The customer’s reaction to a drastic change in a popular product.  The disgruntled ex-key employee badmouthing you to anyone who’ll listen.

Wow…What a bonanza!

Do you mess with what works even if you hate it?

Two and a half Men was projected to earn CBS and Warner Bros. $250 Million in 2012.  Even with bad boy Charlie doing his thing, the money rolled in.  So, is it even a good idea to dump Sheen and bring in Kutcher – thereby messing with a tied and true formula?  Or should they have just canceled and built around something else?

What’s the damage to the show’s (or the network’s) brand?

CBS has been able to leverage the Two and a half Men brand to boost the value of shows it places around it.  Now that their dirty laundry has aired so publicly, will it be so easy to cross-sell other products?

How long will the ex-key employee (Sheen) remain a problem?

This is a nightmare scenario for any business owner.  What happens if your top employee – salesperson, engineer, executive – leaves and says nasty things about you to anyone who’ll listen?

These themes here should be familiar to any business: The loss or devaluation of a top product on the company’s finances, sales and marketing strategy.  The fallout from a poorly handled employee separation.

Good theater is watching something we can relate to – happening to someone else.  In the case of this production, the most interesting storyline is taking place off screen.

Then your Mom would throw this classic at you;  “so if everyone else was jumping off a bridge, would you do that too?”

End of story.

Today though, if a mob of people told you that jumping off a bridge could solve a particular problem, you might actually have to give it some thought.  That’s because of one theory for solving complex problems:  Crowdsourcing.

Crowdsourcing, as defined in Wikipedia, is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a crowd), through an open call. I feel that using information and resources from the crowd can help me make better decisions and be more productive.

Ebay knows we’re on the way back

Crowdsourcing can be a way to build something.  Firefox, one of today’s most popular web browsers, is an open source product – built by an unknown “crowd.”  Users of crowdsourcing can build new software programs and sales teams, design buildings, and even help create new drugs by plugging into the collaborative nature of crowds.

A quick look at one crystal ball is telling us that no matter how we feel personally, the economy is recovering.  Ebay, the monster auction site (which also owns Skype, Paypal, and is part owner of Craigslist) has tens of millions of shoppers and thousands of small businesses using its auction platform.  It’s so large, that some economists think of Ebay as a proxy for the entire US retail economy.  Ebay sales are up.  So is its stock.  That could be good news for all of us.

If you want to get a strong idea if a new product or service is likely to succeed, you might go to crowdsourcing site Inkling.  Here, they use something called a “prediction market” to aggregate people’s opinions to form a prediction of the likelihood of something occurring.

Fight Disease…and have fun

Foldit combines gaming with scientific research.  One of the lessons here is: if it’s fun, the crowd will help you.  The crowd plays a simple yet addictive game ( I zone out on brickbreaker) of protein folding.  As the site explains – since proteins are part of so many diseases, they can also be part of the cure.  Players can design brand new proteins that could help prevent or treat important diseases.

At Lawnmowingonline, you can find someone to mow your lawn for as little as 19 bucks within 24 hours  (lawn mowing emergency?) just by putting it out there to the crowd.

[for a list of crowdsourcing sites from around the world look here]

Bottom line

Crowdsourcing is a tool that can help you make more informed business decisions and get more things done with limited personnel resources.  There are many sites out there to help you collect information and find people with the time or special skills to collaborate on your next project.

Did you know that Albany is the #1 test market in the United States.  Correct-a-mundo.

According to Acxiom’s  last published study in 2004, Albany, NY was the market that best represented the United States population as a whole.

In other words – we’re the most average market in America.

That holds some real advantages for you as a marketer – especially if you market to consumers.  Rolling out new mass-market products in Albany is an excellent place to start.  The test results could well translate to the national market, and “amped-up” ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment)

If that’s you – be thankful we’re so average.

The four main developing powers in the world – Brazil, Russia, India and China held the first ever BRIC summit. Their hope is to challenge the economic dominance of the West – namely the U.S. and Europe – and to challenge the dollar as the main global currency.

For now, the differing agendas and styles of these countries are a major obstacle to creating a united front. But mark that date, June 16, 2009, as a day when the “American Century” more formally transitioned into the 21st century of global economic balance.

Meanwhile…on the home front

Partnerships among nations is a real big bite to swallow all at once. But I believe that partnership strategies will move full speed ahead all around our businesses.

Not too long ago, outsourcing was both a way to save money and a dirty word. That tainted reputation resulted from the movement of service and manufacturing jobs to India, China and Mexico among others.

What many may not know is that over 80% of all U.S. outsourcing is sent to other U.S. companies. All sorts of non-core business functions like; Marketing and Sales, Human Resources and Accounting are sent to firms more proficient in those areas.

Outsourcing is simply one type of strategic partnership.

Done right, partnerships can help participants create and capitalize on new economic opportunities, become more competitive, grow and create jobs.

Another partnership type, joint ventures with complementary businesses, can open up new revenue possibilities, increase your available talent, and lower costs. The same can be accomplished via a strategic alliance.

As the economy begins to find its bottom, and the lull of sunny days are upon us – put your business under the microscope.

Are you reaching all of your potential targets? Are you maximizing the revenue from your existing client base? Are you missing certain products and services that can generate more income?

If so, believe me you’re not alone.

You might be the answer to another company’s need and vice versa. It’s up to you to find out.

Posted by: Steve Banis

I’ve spoken to a number of people who’ve tried to tackle this challenge themselves and we are all coming to the same conclusion: there is no perfect choice for anyone. It shouldn’t be a surprise, but c’mon folks. The rush to market has created a mosh pit of offerings and a fog of sameness is settling in.

It seems that this industry is in that awkward and confusing “tweener” phase. That’s somewhere between startup and maturity.  It’s where the market has proven that the industry has a bright future and there’s a stampede to make sure your company has an offering.

The result is customer confusion and often long-term dissatisfaction. If your industry is in this tweener phase, then how should you market your product? There answer is, as usual, in seeing it from the customer’s point of view. In the rush to get a “me too” product to market, all the offerings start to look the same to the customer. So to make a choice, they have to prioritize the features and benefits they want from their purchase.

Product and service providers have to recognize that their customer is narrowing down their “gotta have” lists. Therefore, you must even more clearly define the strengths of your offering. Take a stand. (check out Seth Godin’s classic Purple Cow to see what I’m talking about).

Sure you’ll turn away the customers who are primarily seeking a different benefit than the one you’re touting as your strength. But in the long run, you’ll have integrity, and when the market shakes out, you’ll have a better chance of being one of the lone survivors than a provider that faded into the herd.

Posted by: Steve Banis