Well, probably not. But I enjoyed contributing to Stefan Gladbach’s Christmas video “A PMM Christmas” as the only biometric product marketing expert in the cast.
And if you heard me mutter in the last few weeks that attribution is a myth, now you know why.
As you can see, Gladbach assembled an all-star cast. Credits at the end of the video, and also in the text of Stefan’s LinkedIn post.
Well, one additional credit: Susan Bredehoft was the camerawoman for my contributions. For lighting and background removal purposes, my scenes were taped outside in our back yard. Since my glasses lenses automatically adjust to sunlight, I can, um, attribute my Roy Orbison look to that.
And I did not follow instructions to wear an ugly Christmas sweater for the end credits…because I haven’t got one. (Ugly sweater, yes. Ugly Christmas sweater, no.) I should have stolen one from Talya.
And for those keeping score (only me, to be honest), I appear at 2:15, 4:40, 5:40, and 8:05.
And now I’m wondering if Roy Orbison ever covered a Smiths song. But again, that’s just me.
I know it’s late on a Friday night (or perhaps Saturday morning where you are), but we need to speak about reality.
As you may know, I’ve grown tired of the word “trust” because of its overuse in the identity verification industry. When everyone repeatedly uses “trust” as a supposed differentiator, no one is differentiated.
But what happens if the overused word “trust” escapes the tired vision statements and starts to be taken seriously?
Why should my prospects trust Bredemarket?
Let’s bring this VERY close to home, why should Bredemarket’s prospects and clients trust me?
After all, there are many reasons why they shouldn’t trust me at all.
I claim to have worked for about two dozen clients (give or take) since 2000, but the majority of readers of this post cannot name one single Bredemarket client. A few of you can name one of my clients. (Especially if you’re the client in question.) Maybe someone can name two or three. This is by design, since I usually function as a de facto ghostwriter, where my work-for-hire words literally become the property of the client.
But at least in the 20th century you knew that a person was behind any claims. The person may have been lying through their teeth, but there was a person behind the lies. Today there may be no such person. What if Bredebot is NOT my only synthetic identity creation? What if I do not exist, and have never existed?
Ah…I can see the uncertainty entering your consciousness.
And now you’re thinking…that maybe you can’t trust anything I said over the last five years.
But now…
Why should your prospects trust you?
…think about how outsiders look at YOUR company.
And if outsiders have any reason to…um…trust you.
And what strategies and content you need to regain the trust of these outsiders.
Now I am not asking you to immediately trust my claim that Bredemarket can equip you with the content you need.
I frequently refer to myself as the “biometric product marketing expert”…and my expertise has been verified multiple times by independent entities.
For those who don’t know, there are a number of companies that put experts in touch with investors to provide insights. There are very strict rules governing these conversations: for example, experts are strictly prohibited from revealing confidential information. But in the end the investors receive insights, and the experts receive a small renumeration for their time.
For obvious reasons I can’t talk much about it, but I have participated in these conversations with multiple investors.
There are multiple entities that arrange these conversations, but the process usually works like this.
The entity approaches you and says they have an expert opportunity to talk about a particular topic.
You answer questions concerning your knowledge about the topic.
You agree to confidentiality, non-disclosure, and other critical terms.
The entity gets back to you and says the opportunity won’t happen.
Yes, that’s the usual process, at least in my experience.
But occasionally you DO succeed in booking a meeting, provide your expertise, and get paid as a result.
Over the last few years I have successfully participated in multiple meetings arranged by two of these entities.
But I recently was approached by a third entity, and the email went something like this.
“Hey, I’m Jim-Bob Jones with KnowledgeRUs. I saw your LinkedIn profile, and I believe KnowledgeRUs could use you as an expert to discuss Green Widgets. Can we talk about this?”
So it appears that Jim-Bob saw my LinkedIn profile…but appeared to be completely unaware that KnowledgeRUs has approached me before. I don’t know why he didn’t research any previous interactions between KnowledgeRUs and me, but it obviously wasn’t critically important for him to do so.
If Jim-Bob had performed his research, he would have realized that KnowledgeRUs has approached me.
Multiple times.
All resulting in…nothing.
So I had a choice:
Do I talk to Jim-Bob and spend one or more hours going through the process again, with the likelihood that I’d be rejected again?
Or do I instead spend my time providing services to Bredemarket clients, or perhaps to one of the entities that HAS provided expert consultations for me?
In the end I chose the latter.
Because I can provide my biometric product marketing expertise much more effectively when I work directly with you.
To ensure that my social media followers don’t have all the fun with my “biometric product marketing expert” shares, here are links to some Bredemarket blog posts on facial recognition (identification) and facial analysis (classification).
I now link to over 100 posts on biometry, biometrics, finger, face, iris, voice, DNA, other biometric modalities, non-biometric factors, and non-person entities.
Identity/biometric marketing leaders continuously talk about how their companies have reduced bias in their products. But have they reduced bias in their own marketing to ensure it resonates with prospects?
“Marketers are driven to accentuate the positive about their companies. Perhaps the company has a charismatic founder who repeatedly emphasizes how ‘insanely great’ his company is and who talked about ‘bozos.’ (Yeah, there was a guy who did both of those.)
“And since marketers are often mandated to create both external and internal sales enablement content, their view of their own company and their own product is colored.”
Let’s look at two examples of biometric marketing internal bias…and how to overcome it.
Google Gemini.
Internal bias at Company A
Company A does not participate in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Face Recognition Technology Evaluation (FRTE) for technical reasons.
As a result, the company’s marketing machine constantly discredits NIST FRTE, and the company culture is permeated with a “NIST is stupid” mentality.
All well and good…until it runs into that one prospect who asks, “Why are you scared to measure yourself against the competition? Does your algorithm suck that bad?”
Internal bias at Company B
Company B, on the other hand, participates in FRTE, FATE, FRIF (previously FpVTE), and every other NIST test imaginable.
This company’s marketing machine declares its superiority as a top tier biometric vendor, supported by outside independent evidence.
All well and good…until it runs into that one prospect who declares, “That’s just federal government test data. How will you perform in our benchmark using our real data and real computers?”
Internal bias at Bredemarket
Well, I have my admittedly biased solution to prevent companies from tumbling into groupthink, drinking of Kool-Aid, and market irrelevance.
Contract with an outside biometric product marketing expert. (I just happen to know one…me.)
Google Gemini.
I haven’t spent 30 years immersed in your insular culture. I’ve heard all the marketing-speak from different companies, and I’ve written the marketing-speak for nearly two dozen of them. I can ensure that your content resonates with your external customers and prospects, not only with your employees.
All well and good…until…
Reducing internal bias at Bredemarket
“But John, what about your own biases? IDEMIA, Motorola, Incode, and other employers paid you for 25 years! You probably have an established process that you use to prepare andouillette at home, based upon a recipe from 2019!”
Google Gemini.
I don’t…but point taken. So how do I minimize my own biases?
My breadth of experience lessens the biases from my past. Look at my market-speak from 1994 to 2023, in order:
We are Printrak, a nimble private company that will dominate AFIS with our client-server solution.
We are Printrak (stock symbol AFIS) a well-funded public company that will dominate AFIS, mugshot, computer aided dispatch, and microfiche.
We are Motorolans, and our multi-tier Digital Justice Solution has a superior architecture to that of Sagem Morpho and others.
We are MorphoTrak, bringing together the best technologies from MetaMorpho and Printrak BIS, plus superior French technology for secure credentials and road safety…unencumbered by the baggage that weighs down MorphoTrust.
We are IDEMIA North America, bringing together the best technologies from MorphoTrust and MorphoTrak for ABIS, driver’s licenses, and enrollment, coupled with the resources from the rest of IDEMIA, a combined unbreakable force.
We are Incode, not weighed down with the baggage of the old dinosaurs, and certainly not a participant in the surveillance market.
Add all the different messaging of Bredemarket’s clients, plus my continuous improvement (hello MOTO) of my capabilities, and I will ensure that my content, proposals, and analysis does not trap you in a dead end.
Reducing internal bias at your company
Are you ready to elevate your company with the outside perspective of a biometric product marketing expert?
Let’s talk (a free meeting). You explain, I ask questions, we agree on a plan, and then I act.
Bredemarket 