Curiously, yes.

Talking only buys you so long...

2011-10-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

It's funny how eventually, employees talk. Eventually in companies with questionable behaviours and management styles people who joined because of the 'talk' find they don't like the walk. So they too walk. And increasingly talk, through sites like Glassdoor.com and the interconnected work force via Linkedin and other social media.

This has been brand mantra for some time, with authenticity being a overt ingredient of powerful brands for the last 10+ years.

People manager and HR teams also intuitively know that authenticity dramatically affects teams and the the HR function.

I wonder what would happen if we had a HR / Brand team mash-up? Rather than doing the standard brand touch-point mapping and prescribing recommendations to make people all sing along we instead allowed things to get...messy. And passionate. And bi-directional.

I think both teams would benefit massively from some frank, creative and fun conversation about how we can make the whole organisation walk the talk. The pay-off? Gain and keep amazing people that will drive your business success.

Organisations are inherently imperfect but some great examples in the right direction include Zappo's, Carman's and Thoughtworks.

You? How do you make your company walk the talk?

Image credit: Openpresswire

Margin mud wrestling

2011-10-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm currently reviewing the performance of a major consumer good brand in the UK. It's very clear that together, FMCG and retailer companies have created a mighty interesting situation for themselves. In a bid to be number one, either product or retailer, they have price promoted their pants off.

So now they are naked, with only a shred of margin for protection.

In some respects the customer is a winner, with cheaper prices. But combined with private label, the resulting 1-4 brand category leaves very little room for innovative new products and economy-stimulating small business. A similar situation is facing the IT industry. I am all for market forces and pressure to force brands and retailers to innovate, adapt and streamline to be the best. May the best brands win. But as brands fight it out, there's a whole lot of margin being lost with the resulting instability for businesses and jobs.

So perhaps the analogy is less standing naked, shreds tactfully poised and more...mud wrestling.

It would be naive to think that it is an easy thing for manufacturers and retailers to have completely open, honest and productive conversations about what next.

But I think that those that manage these conversations well, will win.

Both sides have smart, customer focused people - if we stopped wrestling, perhaps we could create smarter, more resource efficient businesses that delight consumers. On both sides of the ring.

Flickr image credit: Filippo Venturi

A lessen in expectation and passion from Joan Collins (or rather, her audience)

2011-09-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

Attending an event at the glorious Theatre Royal Haymarket today, a Master Class with Joan Collins, it was a reminder about passion. And about people.

Funnily enough it wasn't from Ms Collins (who is absolutely an inspiration in terms of determination, pragmatism and traffic-stopping legs at any age!). Rather, it was after, speaking to people involved with the Master Class, the theatre and acting in general. They have their own language, what to me would be famous actors are master practitioners and dramatic practice becomes the craft.

People have enormous, life-dedicating passion to the craft. But if I passed them on the street, or saw them in-store I would type-cast them as an X-type consumer.

It was a vivid, candid and razor witted reminder that people are not defined by their 'type', they are defined by their passions.

I wonder what you find if you ask some of your customers about their passions?

*The Master Class is about to do some even more exciting projects - I recommend you learn more about this very positive organisation supporting London Youth and sign up for updates at http://www.masterclass.org.uk/.

The bollocks club

2011-09-18T02:59:00.000-07:00

The what?

Yes, the bollocks club.

I propose this as a new introduction into your marketing decision making process.

Pick the biggest nay-sayers you can find. Ideally, non brand-loyal customers and potentially some of your sales team who need to sell this into your key accounts.

And run your new campaign idea past them.

What did they say?

Does your idea pass through the bollocks club and makes good common sense? Did it make sense to them? How did it make them feel? Do they think it is genuinely new?

Or are you just convincing yourself that this new angle for differentiation will be heard, understood and acted upon (i.e. your product bought or new, raving fans collected).

It's just another way of sense-checking if you have marketing myopia.

I am not saying that you have to do what this groups says, by any means - it is your job to lead people to new thinking and perceptions about your brand and potentially even the market.

But what it will do is give you the honest answer before you spend £10m on a new campaign. So you can choose before, not realise after how people will act as a result of your campaign.

You? Do you have your own version of the bollocks club? What does it look like?

Rapid Immersion: Embracing a country to help it embrace your brand

2011-08-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Recently as I worked with a Norwegian company to define their brand we had a lot of fun with them educating me about being Norwegian, and what it meant for their brand.

A simple example in the brand profiling process was that they did not rate themselves clearly as successful, despite being an absolute world leader in their work. If taken at face value, this result would mean that their brand would be expressed as potentially an efficient follower or stronger in areas other than thought leadership. However, when questioned, it was revealed that it is so typical for the highly collective Norwegians to down-play their own success that there is a term for it, Jante Law, a concept similar to the Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australia.

As a result, we worked through it and they admitted leadership is integral to the nature of their game-changing business.

Reflecting on this, I want to share 10 questions to ask of your contacts to gain a rapid understanding of a new country (or culture). It created a lot of debate and laughter and was a useful excercise for us all.

1. How would you describe Norwegian people to someone?

2. What is Norway known for?

3. Is it true? If not, what should it be known for?

4. What are the biggest brands and retailers in Norway?

4. If I called you __this__ nationality, it would annoy you. (note - you don't want to confuse Norwegians and Swedes!)

5. What do you folks do for fun?

6. Where do Norwegians sit on the scale between hedonism and altruism?

8. How punctual are your trains?

9. What subjects could I bring up over drinks that would incite most conversation? A riot?

10. Tell me about how how families work together, or not, in Norway.

11. What Norwegian food should I try?

My final tip is a few words go a long way, even in English-fluent Norway. Try downloading a free app for basic phrases in the appropriate language and you could have the basics ready to go by the time you touch down to meet your client!

You? What questions would you add or change?

p.s. When I asked a colleague who's job it is to travel the world challenging and helping teams to higher sales performance how he immerses effectively he added these great points:

1. Know their local data as well as they do - spend considerable time to know their perspective.

2. Spend 2-3 days walking amongst the customers / business - observing, cataloguing and asking questions.

3. (my favourite) Laugh at yourself first! Have a little fun at your own cultural sterotypes first, to open up the way for them to share anecdotes with you.

Selection for the curious: not the headline news in brand

2011-08-10T03:27:00.000-07:00

Brand

Vitaminwater emphasize the "energy-boosting" properties of their drink with bus shelter ads in the States.

Kellogg and Augme Technologies have announced that they will be working on optimising interactive packaging technology with the aim of acquiring data about Kellogg’s customer base over the next year.

Sainsbury’s juices get portion control windows to help customers manage dietary intake.

Innovation

This time, innovation in service! Heartbreak Hotel - Dutch hotel's weekend divorce service. via @iconoculture

Where do good ideas come from? Great summary of current opinions by practitioners and insight into how its done by the Made by Many team. @madebymany

Design

Inspiring and cultivating creativity. Hint: 9 of the top 10 motivators are intrinsic, not intrinsic! via @the99percent

Great site around the new John Hegarty book. Home truths, funny truths and the occasional fish slap: http://www.hegartyonadvertising.com. Includes the great quote:

Creativity isn't an occupation, its a preoccupation.

Genius
Good starter article on the learning secrets of Polyglots, Polymaths and Savants. Dzongkha anyone?

Getting amongst it. Your brand that is.

2011-08-10T02:44:00.000-07:00

How often do you get amongst your customers? Your channel partners?

Could you say what they looked like, what they said to others as they were handling your products?

It's great to be excited about your new ideas, your new packing, TVC and service offering. You need to be excited to be able to get others excited.

But how will you get customers excited with you? First, you need them to notice and listen to you. For that, they need to trust and like you.

Rule no.1 of how to get people to like you from How Win Friends and Influence People: Become genuinely interested in other people.

Rule no.1 of developing trust - it has an inverse relationship to how much you focus on yourself rather than focus on the other person.

So, the number one rule about getting people to talk about your brand...it's not about you.

So, get amongst it and see what your customers are all about. Guaranteed you will learn a new, powerful insight about them each and every time you get amongst it.

Here's five ideas how:

Have a bi-weekly channel partner safari - be it walking around retailers, popping in to see your partners' office or surfing some new online shopping options.
Adopt a store - if you have 50 people in your company, with a little coaching, you can have live and direct feeds from 50 of your customers, using just your staff.
Stroll. Stroll through where your customers live and shop.
Become your own ethnography team. Arm a bunch of your team with cameras, notebooks, markers and a travel ticket and a juicy list of things to observe. Come back for a private screening where you share stories and artefacts. It may not be robust, but done regularly will begin to paint a real picture of your consumers.
Be (politely) inquisitive. Next time you're shopping your category and you notice a customer buying, ask them why. It works for Richard Branson! Maybe you could invite them over for tea and biscuits with the team?

You? What ways do you get amongst it with your customers?

ideas = future

2011-08-10T02:39:00.000-07:00

Great quote courtesy of @BrandDNA and the immortal John Hegarty.

Selection for the curious: not the headline news in brand

2011-08-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

Retail: Zara back in black for the first time since 2007. Zara returns to profit as new shops boost sales via@retailweek

Design: Students from Les Ateliers-Paris Design Institute have created a project called Fabrique Hacktion that aims to improve collective spaces in the city via @LSNglobal

Design: Why two brains think faster than one. Video interview with Antenna Design by @the99percent

Big ideas: No Boinking: Raising awareness of India’s population control problem with a playful ad that works even without understanding Hindi for Idea 3G, by Lowe and partners: When the power goes out, don't boink, play 3G games!

Social / Tech: White House: Twitter helped debt agreement. Virtual pressure pushed the deal, whilst Obama lost 36,000 followers.

You’ve got FAIL: Windows Office365 team Punks Gmail via @ADWEEK

TaskRabbit iPhone App Lets You Post Errands On The Move via @PSFK

Innovation: The British Egg Market—An Incubator of Innovation via @popsop_com

Zip.

2011-07-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

So, it's great to be interesting, curious and open to many things.

But if you are about many diverse things, when do people to turn to you? After all, there's wikipedia.

To develop a personal brand, you have to be the go-to person for something.

What's your something?

Every business is social

2011-07-06T03:26:00.000-07:00

A business involves people. People buy the business outputs. Ergo, a business is social.

I often get asked by business owners 'what is social media' and 'how do I set up Facebook for my business'? It seems everyone wants to go social.

Sometimes what people miss is that they already are.

My answer is simple, and the acts are simple, but still, simple acts can still generate profound changes in an organisation.

The simple answer - social is an amplification of existing ways of communicating.

Instead of phoning or emailing your customers one by one, you can share information about your business with all those that 'follow' you in various ways. Instead of broadcasting using a megaphone, because someone has chosen to link with you, its like you are having a conversation in the same room. You can point at things using links, Slideshare, Youtube and Skitch. You can show how much you like what they are doing by sharing their information with your 'room'. And this can all be done in a way that is infinitely 'spreadable' in a social chain reaction.

This is true both internally and externally within a business.

So the first part of my advice is simple - map your customer touch points and start with those. Is there a way you can a) help those be better experiences and b) help spread the word about your business?

The obvious place to start is customer service - can you add more ways for people to simply connect with you and resolve a query immediately, rather than over days waiting for email or call backs? Adding Twitter and live chat could help reduce issue resolution time and potentially head count. But then lets move on to your shipments - can you add a customised message for your customer on your delivery docket, with an invitation link to see the latest trends in their industry, a secret customer-only event or a slide-share presentation on best-practice on shaving costs on shipping in their industry?

Social is being yourself (your Brand), but amplified.

My top 3 tips for businesses as they are starting to dip their toe in:

Give. Be useful. People share things that are useful and good.
Be relevant. People are time poor - give them what they want and need. If you are highly technical company with a highly technical audience, it is unlikely that they want to be friends with you on facebook. But they are likely to want to read new developments that your CTO finds interesting on your blog.
Be real. People interact with people, not things. Part of the enjoyment of engaging with a brand or a business is learning the real people involved in it, being one of the community with a real relationship with you, not just someone who has read the brochure.

As with any technology / behavioural adoption, once you've taken the first step, you're already in a new and exciting place.

You? Where do you think a business should start in their social adoption?

Notes: This article was inspired by an article by Jed Hallam, part 2 of a series on the social business. You should read it, it's good :)

Image credit: Faithoncampus

Fashion: nature vs nurture?

2011-07-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

A recent article in Grazia caught my eye and made me wonder, how often do customers beat the trend makers?

Kind of like asking the nature versus nurture question, but for fashion.

The article showed examples of girls using Celine zip-up cases for keys and coins or Marc by Marc Jacobs iPad cases as very stylish clutches.

The Tipping Point highlights specific individuals starting trends. Yet on the other hand we have game-changing innovations such as the iPhone, which admittedly build upon existing behavioural changes but itself creates new ones. Walmart started a new trend in retailing not from looking at customers, but initially looking at operations, as this interesting article by Scott Davis of Prophet describes.

Modern marketing, branding and design is all about being customer-led, suggesting that all trends come from customers.

I wonder, is it possible to create a genuinely new trend, that is not at all hinted at by other events? A world-changing new spark, the trend equivalent of 'the big bang'?

You? What do you think?

Meanwhile....sharing some of my favourite trend-spotting gurus: trendwatching; PSFK; LSN; Iconoculture; Scienceofthetime; Trend Hunter.

Back to the love...

2011-06-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or have you too stopped bothering to read the articles about the changing nature of the advertising industry? Like a twisted self-introspective fairy tale, articles depict a combination of sky falling, big bad wolf coming, ark-building, fleece-chasing and the search for El-Dorado.

It's boring.

Isn't a industry which exists to help brands and people connect meant to be all about them, not us.

Call me (happily) simple.

In the words of David Ogilvy, A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself. Works for agencies too.

Stop talking about yourself. I'll try to stop talking about myself.

Let's talk about amazing people, amazing brands and what makes them great.

Always great for inspiration...http://www.lovemarks.com/ (Dettol is trending up - who would have guessed!)

Photo credit: The Chicagoist

Day 30: Where am I?

2011-06-09T05:12:00.001-07:00

Observation: It takes too long to find where I am and therefore where I need to go next on the London tube map.

Opportunity: You are here stickers. See the video below for how this could look.

Short and sweet for Day 30. Hope you found some interesting inspiration in the observation to creation challenge!

Day 29: Religion, self and finding a path between

2011-06-09T01:08:00.000-07:00

Observation: Whilst at a local community boxing group, a teenage girl joining the boys for a workout. She was wearing a full headscarfe and full length track suit. At one point she was so hot she stripped to her tank top. It felt shocking and intrusive seeing her flesh and I had to look away.

From my own perspective I was delighted to see this tough, challenging girl doing what she wanted. However I was dying with her as she overheated under her coverings.

Having read this guide on proper behaviour and had a brief look at the fashions and articles for women wanting to do exercise, I cannot see how in any way a Muslim woman doesn't feel at least a little compromised when exercising, even if it is completely in line with their faith to look after yourself. It got me wondering...how to stay healthy and stay comfortable as a Muslim woman?

Opportunities:

All of these would need to be vetted by people of the faith, but some ideas to begin with...

- More structured, flexible clothing that does not cling like lycra, but enables easy, enjoyable movement. Perhaps building on the structured, floating forms of Japanese designers Issey Miyake?

- A muslim woman only fitness club, complete with pool and outdoor family play area. This way women are more free to wear more comfortable clothing whilst getting healthy.

- A healthy Muslim women community group - online, social and with localised chapters. Sharing healthier food and lifestyle options, providing support and tips to get healthy and company to make exercise amongst peers safer and more appropriate.

- An exclusive his and hers Muslim fitness club where couples can each go, providing a shared but appropriate activity where they each work out in the separate male or female areas. Add exclusive couple work out rooms for hire. Kind of like a cross between the exclusive karaoke rooms model and couple's beauty treatments. Hire for an hour with your choice of services.

Image credit: Muslim women in sports

Day 28: Showing love, of anything, draws you in

2011-06-07T04:51:00.000-07:00

Observation: A crazy picture of a dog with a sausage balanced on its nose. A sign for a seafood restaurant!

Huh? But it did stop me in my tracks and I did immediately think a) that's a little nutty and b) I love it too. Their love of the nutty and being true to it, drew me in.

Opportunities:

- Put your crazy on the outside. If your team is obsessed with your puppies, lattes, donuts, gardens, children, small green men...putting the real you on the outside will draw people in. At least it will start a conversation! And even the biggest corporate buyers are still just people.

- Continuing from the previous point, will outing what you, personally, love help internally too? What about starting an old-fashioned show and tell once a week - for 5 minutes each person tells a story about something they love. It breaks down barriers, brings fresh perspectives and who knows, could lead to some interesting new collaborations!

- Going for that next job? Share a little of what you love. I hear time and again of people looking for passion in new additions to the team.

Fundamental to driving the success of many online businesses - the shared love of different subjects and people. Parallel to Seth Godin's notion of tribes. A clear signal of what you love brings those who will tell your story, share your brand, closer to you.

Day 27: Smile, its raining

2011-06-06T01:41:00.000-07:00

Observation: People stop smiling when its raining (except me, who loves it with a giddy delight).

In the midst of lovely spring days people seem bereft at the return of the rain, grumpily getting out rumpled umbrellas and huddling determinedly forward using their shield as an aggressive response to their loss.

Opportunities:

- Start a 'sunshine' cafe. On properly rainy days, give people a small token to make them happy, be it chocolate, a fortune cookie or a simple smiley sticker. Or an extra shot, free, to help kick start them on the day. During winter, have artfully arranged "SAD" lamps and sunshiney flowers and plants. During warm weather, open the windows, the roof if possible and serve tropical breakfasts. The team could wear flowers in their hair. A little dash of unashamed sunshine in the rain.

- If you are a high-foot traffic business, offer free re-usable umbrellas for people to take if they need it, returning it if they are able, bringing return foot traffic and regular customer love.

- Start a small, mobile rainy day business - from a cart. Have an enormous brightly coloured umbrella awning, the ability to play upbeat tubes and sell umbrellas from 'just get me to the office price' to premium. Add hats, scarves, boots, ponchos and hot chocolate and warm cinnamon donuts. You only need to work when it's raining!

Day 26: But where's the Tapas?

2011-06-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Observation: When I go to a festival called Taste of Spain...I expect to be able to taste Spain. It may have been the unfortunate weather or I may have missed it... but with every sense...I did not taste Spain.

There was no paella, tapas or sangria, just two churros vans parked at either end. Local restaurants were getting into the spirit of festivities...but not offering more than a token Spanish dish, if that. The music may have been by Spanish people, but the songs I happened to hear were not.

A large proportion of the festival was given over to sporting displays of basketball, football and golf. Don't even get me started on the random display of tents from a retailer on the street.

It seemed like Spain was going for a re-brand as a sporting destination, but forgot why it is loved by people from the world over.

The horses however, were amazing. Sadly, I heard the whole festival was amazing the year before.

Opportunities:

- Firstly, when it is your brand (i.e. Spain), help participating partners understand the vision and experience you will be creating and how that will positively impact them, so you don't end up with bands in sloppy board shorts singing covers at your event. Instead, work with them to connect with the right people to do this.

- Create a research business for events companies - researching the concept and elements of it with target attendees right at the beginning of the event. The aim - test the brand experience you are creating is the one you want. Plus a great opportunity for co-creation too.

- People were barely buying at this event. Create a show-bag style system which would help subsidise the event where people could purchase different flavours of Spain to them take home and share with others. Taking taste in a broader sense it could be music, it could be travel vouchers, it could be famous perfumiers or candle makers from Spain.

- Create an evening event where the colours of Spain are literally projected on the walls of the buildings lining the street, with images denoting the many different facets of Spain projected around the street.

Day 25: Chain mine in the middle

2011-06-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Observation: Bikes chained to the pedestrian crossing railing in Notting Hill in the middle of the road.

Individuals have taken matters into their own hands to ensure that their bikes can be locked securely and are under constant surveillance by passing traffic.

Opportunities:

- The local council clearly needs to put in new bike stands! Local council staff before removing the bikes forcibly could leave a note on the bikes asking people to submit feedback and ideas on how and where the bike stands should be laid.

- A local cafe with some unused space and a local bike enthusiasts could start a cafe with bike concierge service!

- A local bike share group could be started, with people all agreeing to keep an eye out for each others' bikes stored in a single location and with a bike-share scheme to enable people to share the use of a bike if they have very different schedules, kind of like zip-car.

- Nearby car parks could offer bike storage in unused spaces in the angles of car parks, a great community service or at a small charge of 50p a day.

Photo credit: The Hungry Cyclist

Day 24: Direct logic brilliance

2011-06-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Observation: This inspiring bit of photography is actually the side of a traffic light controller. Not smooth, rough. Black.

How to stop graffiti artists and bill posters? Mess up the surface so it is almost impossible to write or stick anything upon it. Direct, effective and lowers maintenance costs whilst gaining kudos with your client for minimising impact on a beautiful street.

Opportunities:

- A great example of direct and effective is having multiple pay points + point of purchase impulse buys. Primark is a great example, the quicker they get people through, the more transactions they will have because their main limiter is store capacity. The success of Apps is partly driven by the same notion - purchase on the spot, the moment you want it. How can you simply, directly create more purchase occassions in your buy cycle? Is it giving a fast, low cost trial to start using your service, right at your very introduction?

- Building hoardings (mentioned in a previous post) - could they be texturised to stop the addition of bill posters?

- Perhaps using the opposite notion, could a safety jacket be invented that is so slick, not one could ever grab hold of you (i.e. for female runners who run in the dark).

- For a brand, would it make more sense to spend ALL your advertising budget for one year to completely focus on making the BEST ever widget? If it's better, be it in price, function, appearance or another significantly differentiated way, consumers will WANT to by it. Direct logic says that this will help sales.

A good post by @brandautopsy describes a company doing exactly that. And winning.

Day 23: The underlying sameness

2011-06-02T00:46:00.000-07:00

Observation: There are some situations where we all become equal.

Sometimes, by doing the same physical actions, we enter the same space emotionally.

Opportunity:

- Could be the starting point of communications for global brands? The global brand may need different names, flavours and styles of information. However, is there a physical moment that all people experience the same way? For Schweppes it is the moment of fizz, for Nike it is that moment of personal physical challenge. For hotels it is that moment when you flop onto the bed when you get in. What is a physical gesture that is your clue to the emotional commonality around your brand experience?

Day 22: Being in motion is being in motion

2011-05-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

(Emotion) Observation: When out and about meeting people, seeing new things and sometimes literally smelling the roses along the way is when I really feel like I am progressing. Learning, adapting and doing.

Opportunities:

- Often small business owners can feel isolated and end up in a spiral of working too hard and becoming increasingly isolated. They get exhausted. And no one is at their best when they are exhausted. When not start an entrepreneur's walking or running club? Efficient use of time, the opportunity to get out and making sure people stay healthy too. Similar to the Hash House Harriers, we could start and end at a pub so if people want to linger, they can.

- Its amazing how the environment affects you. Hanging out in SOHO makes me want to go faster, edgier. Mayfair makes me cautious and see the value of a great board. Why not create a series of movable co-working spaces, popping up for a month, each with its own feel and strengths. Why not pitch it to a restaurant, a hotel or even a car-park that during their down-time, they cam gain extra revenue, traffic and frankly kudos with the local community. Sponsored by a 'SME friendly' bank and with the occasional talk by business people, it could work really well.

- For professional societies - have old fashioned field days. Either curated or crowd-sourced, get out there and move!

Day 21: Give me a campfire

2011-05-30T04:35:00.000-07:00

Observation: We're still using powerpoint.

People absorb information in different ways - visual, aural and through other senses. So, it makes sense that people still have visual aids when they speak.

However, I can't help being a little disappointed when the first slide comes up, particularly at a creative event.

Next time - give me a campfire if you are going to be telling stories!

Opportunities:

- Retailers - let your suppliers in. Let them hold meetings in your aisles to show their sales team and marketers exactly how things work in store, with customers. They can't help but understand your needs and those of your customers better that way.

- Start a small business called Raconteur. Specialising in...presenting the heart of your story. Imagine, you may be the numbers guy and need to point out some key issues. These people will for a small fee give you ideas or help you put together a killer communication to highlight what you need people to act upon. It might be a video from the shop floor, a gathering in the middle of the factory with the production manager pointing to the issues. Or it might be dressing all in red to get the point across.

- Say less.

- Create a game where by people participating they understand the key issues and opportunities you need them too and end up coming back to you with key messages and solutions.

What would you do differently?

Day 20: False Claims and fashion

2011-05-30T03:48:00.000-07:00

Observation: Old fashioned brands could claim anything.

The rules are pretty strict nowadays, particularly around health claims. But it got me thinking...when everything is new and therefore fashionable, such as many social media tools and ever more Apps...could anything be claimed because no-one is quite able to see what's real?

Admitted unlikely in our uber-transparent world where even super-injunctions no longer work.

So - here are some Real Claims that I'd like to see brands living up to:

- A real estate brand, (Bullfreemen?) - the real estate agency that only tells you the truth.

- A cereal brand (Naughty but Nice?) - a sugary treat to start the day.

- A health foods brand (Cardboard?) - all the basic super healthy ingredients that you can use to make healthy dishes, but which by themselves, taste like cardboard.

- A bank brand, called 7% - guaranteed to only ever make 7% profit. Anything else they give back to customers or re-invest in services and benefits for customers and the community.

It's fun to imagine what could be possible as brands increasingly tie their brands to Real Claims and being real is increasingly fashionable.

Some great examples include: Another Bloody Water, Honest Tea, Kashi, Patagonia and Lonely Planet.

What Real Claim brands would you like to see?

Day 19: You did what at Bingo?

2011-05-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

Observation: This is Bingo, but not as we know it. Pumping tunes, dance floor, texta everywhere and people looking like a new breed of child tattooists have gone wild. And some seriously sexy sassy people pumping the crowd. Welcome to the Underground Rebel Bingo Club.

These fabulous people have made the ordinary, extraordinary. In main part because they have the balls to do so.

There is so much mundanity around that could be made different with creativity, courage and a little effort. But just for fun, lets look at some of THE most mundane things.

Opportunities:

- Traffic jams - What if the highway company, just for one day, hired a team of themed "entertainment staff". Whilst in traffic they would dance, walk and skip through the crowd (safely) and introduce people to others in the car next door, do a dance routine or teach people funny phrases in other languages? What if we made it an everyday thing - putting digital screens up in the lead up to the toll booths with different things - one day it could be funny quotes, one day learn an italian word - or even for one month - with prizes for people most improved at the end of it?

- Putting out the rubbish - What if just for one neighbourhood, the dustbin quietly swapped all the bins as they were emptying them with personalised ones for that family, with an art series from a local artist or left a big herb pot plant beside each bin + a card with recipes for that plant? (similar to the SpainAir great example of delighting Christmas travellers)

- Cleaning - Why not make a new type of oven cleaner that smells like just-baked apple pie? Or do a gift with purchase promotion that has music from different kinds of holidays so at least you can dream of being elsewhere and enjoy the sounds of it whilst cleaning?

What is your most mundane thing? How could you make it better?

Day 18: I see you

2011-05-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

Observation: Sometimes those dressed in the most severe or corporate ways let it be known that they are not the people they appear. To this girl - I see you. The real you.

Opportunities:

- Marketing idea for lingerie. Many girls (I can't really talk for men) wear lingerie that expresses how they feel on that day - be it sexy, playful or just comfortable in their own skin. Do a campaign based around these truths. You are the real you underneath, no matter what uniform you need to put on.

- Business idea - Daily change wrist jewellery for men and women - stylish enough to go with work wear but different enough to be noticed by those paying attention. Easily changeable elements to reflect what you want that day or that year - be it love, confidence, strength or protection.

- Corporate organisational culture idea - have a 'this is me' day. Be it in the office or off site, have a day where people dress completely as they would on the weekend. It could be ripped jeans and rock T-shirts, their pajamas or a ball gown. Facilitating people really getting to know each other and respect it.

- Marketing idea - A coffee shop or gym that allowed for very small personal lockers for girls work / personal shoes. Rather than having to lug them in each day, they could grab them with their morning coffee. It could be on a rotating basis for loyal customers. It could also work for a shoe store - imagine a shoe store putting in a coffee machine and opening for loyal customers to swap to their work shoes. They would be exposed to the latest range and have a chance to share their passion with other shoe lovers. Everyones happy!

Day 17: Seeking a connection

2011-05-25T02:43:00.000-07:00

- This space is intentionally left blank -

Observation: Today's observation was an emotional one. In one day meeting with a recruiter, attending a wonderful female networking event (check out Ladies at 11), meeting a new recent professional contact for drinks and strolling back to transport past several beggars, 2 out of the 3 had company, be it a puppy or a companion.

In a day I felt the swirling push and pull of contacting with others in many different facets. It makes me wonder, how can this be made easier and more positive? Or is this trying to box a multi-layered phenomenon that cannot be boxed?

This one I don't have an answer for.

What do you think - how could we help people make connections?

Day 16: Prettify, don't just stand there

2011-05-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

Observation: Hoardings, scaffolding. Essential but often ugly. As people pass by it is like it becomes an invisible part of the landscape.

Surely the upgrade is expensive enough, without losing all value from this clearly very expensive real estate?

Opportunities:

- Hoardings as advertising medium. Cut price hoarding rental in return for use as urban advertising media. I suspect there may be reasons why this doesn't exist already but it does seem a glaring opportunity.

- Of course the number one priority is safety, but why not use the chance to get creative? If entire communities can get colourful, why can't some hoardings and structs? Could this be the point of difference and major marketing vehicle for a forward thinking construction company?

- Be the construction company leading in environmentally friendly scaffolding - use alternate materials such as the bamboo very common in Asia, add in hanging gardens at each level to provide healthy food for the workers or use environmentally friendly scaffolding covers.

- Host creative events in the scaffolding with acrobats and artists - done safely but spectacularly. A great example is this event by Target and The Standard Hotel in NYC. Imagine what the spectacle could be at night and the PR opportunity it would present for that new property?

Why not turn an invisible opportunity into a spectacular opportunity?

Day 15: That's rubbish

2011-05-23T03:25:00.000-07:00

Observation: Be it London or New York, even if we accept that rubbish bags form part of the urban grunge landscape, they are still an eye sore.

What could we do differently?

Opportunities:

- Have an our city, our art project - with suppliers roped in to create specialist print bags, just for a time.

- Create grey coloured bags - at least they would blend in!

- Centralise bag drop off in each street, which does exist in Spain already, but make it the subject of an ongoing industrial design student project - finding the best, most useful version. Have mini composting bins and veggie gardens beside to re-use on the spot for the good of the community.

Day 14: Everyone loves a puppy

2011-05-23T03:11:00.000-07:00

Observation: Puppies are an irresistible force of nature and people flock to them wherever they are.

Opportunities:

- Amongst inner city urbanites (particularly those of 'coupling' age), many pine for a dog but simply can't fit or commit to them. Why not have a 'puppy for a day' service - either a fully fledged rental business or in combination with the a local shelter as a revenue raiser? Surely more puppies would find a home this way too.

- Create a joint project between a pet shelter and local community / mental health groups to enable people who need to connect more to the community to take a dog for a walk, for half a day. It will gently help them interact with others in a safe way.

- Joint project with The Big Issue - creating a calendar images of homeless people and their dogs for sale. Homeless people form unique bonds with their dogs that is clear when you see them cuddled tight together, calm and together as a unit.

Day 13: In a blank space, everything is art

2011-05-23T01:07:00.000-07:00

Observation: Strolling through an amazing exhibition at the Barbican, I noticed some of the performers' shoes beneath the stairwell. Amongst the stark background, they appeared to be making a statement all of their own.

Anything in clear space has impact.

Opportunities:

- Why not try this for your marketing communications? It could be creating a separate micro-site for a specific product, simply highlighting its uniqueness. Test it against the traffic you get on your normal site. Some of the most effective ads I have seen start with this principle, creating a visual or aural white space at the beginning of a TVC that itself creates cut-through from the clutter of the medium.

- Place your business locale where least expected (but still useful). A small village that happens to be the central point between key commercial areas, an art gallery space or a container in the middle of a dock? The space itself will help you make a statement. Where you choose frames that statement.

- Similar to the 'Blue Ocean Strategy' concept, find the clear space in your industry and go there. A great example is a friend of mine who targeted the clients no other financial advisors wanted - those with less money. He looked after these clients well, they grew wealthier and his multi-million dollar business was built on referrals.

Who is the unfashionable target in your market? Could they be your clear space?

Day 12: Selling the next step

2011-05-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

Observation: Clothing stores selling books and home accessories.

Stores are helping people achieve the next step of someone living their brand lifestyle. In the process they bask in the reflected cool of stylish design books and gain additional revenue.

Opportunities:

- What is your next step for the lifestyle you provide? If you're a financial planner - why not (partner) to provide your clients a taste of staying in deluxe accommodation or travelling to exotic locales? If you have a cake making business why not provide cake making lessons or gorgeous party crockery to display the cakes?

- What lifestyle have you noticed people dreaming about and how can you create a business to help people experience and live it? For example, what about a millionaire for a day events business, a country estate owner weekend escape or artist retreat?

Day 11: Giving makes me like you

2011-05-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

Observation: Giving in several forms: dog biscuits in the cafe for any puppies, a hand-written welcome given for candidates at a recruiter and a free croissant with your morning coffee at a Soho cafe.

Each of these delighted me and made me want to come back. A direct correlation from giving to ongoing business.

Opportunities: Essentially all versions of giving. It can be a word of welcome, a personal introduction, a reference, a bonus product or that extra accessory to go with an outfit.

Let me know how you go!

Day 10: Tag me

2011-05-18T06:08:00.000-07:00

Observation: Our days are littered with little bits of paper. Some of them so close they are right beside our skin.

Be it dry cleaner tags, receipts, tickets or clothing labels...our daily life has many meaningless bits of paper. However they all have one thing in common - we physically touch them. Without thought.

Opportunities:

Make all the small, seemingly meaningless customer touch points meaningful or distinct. Or do away with them altogether. If you are a dry cleaner, why not have tags that are colourful and make people laugh or gorgeously sleek showing the care and premium service you give? Why not surprise people with occassionally slipping in clothes care sachets or shop all with fortune-cookie like treats (this would be particularly fun for traditional Chinese-owned dry cleaners). Make a small daily transaction a meaningful brand gesture that customers will look for and enjoy, every time they come back to you.
Run a 'golden ticket' competition - make a few of those daily touch points a potential pot of gold. People will definitely pay attention to your brand with a golden prize.

Day 9: Why does trade look like trash?

2011-05-17T09:16:00.001-07:00

Observation: Donation or fair trade support bins are often placed near bins. In fact, they often look like one too.

One of the major issues for not for profits (NFPs) is the cost of disposing of all the rubbish and un-salable items that are placed in bins, as recently reported for donations to disaster-stricken Tokyo. This is a cost that directly reduces the positive impact of these activities. If it is a $1 per day to feed a child...and a dollar a bag to dispose of rubbish, a rough guess of 5 children don't get fed per load.

Yes, there are practicalities such as theft, commercial abuse and handling to consider, but there are opportunities too.

Opportunities:

- Start a premium donation service. It is clean, nowhere near the bins, easily accessible and really clearly branded. There are simple, positive messages to get people to do the right thing re. donations and maybe even a tracking service for people to see (roughly) where their donations end up. Potentially could work with a retailer.

- Start another tier of waste management. There is clearly a tier of waste that is perceived as too useful or too good / expensive for people to throw away that is not being addressed right now. This could be pitched as a business idea by a council, with a small grant to some bright local business students for a trial.

- Do away with bins altogether and do a deal with mail providers to ship the donations.

- Build a global street-swap party idea. It already exists as clothes swaps, car-boot sales and charity shops. Why not make it local and have one huge central table down the street, a bit of a party and a $2 donation to participate - both donating and being able to select items to take away or 'swap'.

Sounds like fun to me... :)

Observation Day 8: Multiple locations makes you hot

2011-05-16T10:16:00.001-07:00

Observation: Many brands, such as Gap pictured here, mention location in their communications. Looking at it, for some reason it made me feel like I wanted to be a part of it. It made me feel that they are hot, happening.

Donna Karan, Jo Malone, Cath Kitson and some agencies do this. By mentioning the cities they are using the allure, the imagery of those cities applied to their brand. In addition to tapping in to a deliberate tourist dollar in high traffic cities such as London. By mentioning the cities they show scale and to some degree, sophistication.

Opportunities:

- Use the trend, but do it tongue-in-cheek. What if your locations are Stoke-on-Trent, Essex and Manchester - be proud of your anti-big city roots. Or, use your localisation - if you only serve a small town, be proud and share the pride with your customers in all your communications. If you have manufacturing in Spain, China and Thailand, why not make them the anti-heroes and get your manufacturers involved in your advertising (ok, it has risks, but could work).

- If you are looking to expand the scale of customers, how can you efficiently claim locality in their nearest city? The addition of an agent in NYC and Shanghai suddenly gives you global reach. Which would of course need to be backed by quality delivery.

- Business idea: take the serviced office idea to the next level, make it co-working spaces that extend online and inter-city as well with active encouragement to network between co-working cities. Put enough entrepreneurial people in a room and businesses will incubate themselves to a global scale.

- If you are global - you could add to the mystique and allure of being global by promotional activities - have Tokyo day in your store, arrange transfers between offices, give people a window into the other cities showing fashion shows and lifestyles in the other city - with curated city brand stories.

- My feeling is this builds on that old adage, "success breeds success". Instead of using cities, could you use growth statistics, employee promotions, number of sales, people dressed, clients served in your banners and communications. Show how hot you are - and watch people flock to it.

It's powerful.

Observation Day 7: Your normal

2011-05-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

Observation: Walking the streaming, deliciously fragrant, multicultural and multi-coloured laneways around London's Brick Lane it becomes clear that for many there that may appear radical if placed in the heart of the trading district, this is their normal.

It's both a celebration and a chance to be one of them, if only just for one day (assuming that this isn't your normal).

Opportunities:

- Create a 'just for one day' business where people can live the life of an artist, a street vendor, a city trader or an advertising exec. Just for one day.

- Create a vertically integrated business not along production lines but amongst lifestyle lines. If your customers are middle class go-getters paying off their mortgage and supporting their children, can you add a car dealership or family holiday business. The focus (and value) is on your relationships with your customers, the expertise can be brought (or bought) in.

- Marketing idea: Are you assuming your normal is the same as others? How can you bring along new people to your view of the word, appreciating your product or service?

Photo credit: Jarek Jarosz

Observation Day 6: I never knew I wanted vintage butter dish

2011-05-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

Observation: Hundreds of people braving biting winds and an early weekend morning to trawl through piles, tables, racks and stacks of stuff at a car boot sale.

Somehow, most people end up walking away with something they never knew they wanted. In my case, a vintage butter dish. Asking people why they loved it, they responded that it is the prospect of a bargain, the joy of finding something to add to their collection, the amusement of finding so many strange things and the slightly voyeuristic interest in seeing people's lives on sale.

There is so much to take from this simple experience - from the raving fans that hunt for years for their favourite pieces, the creation of a satisfying and inspiring hunt for a bargain and the creative inspiration that comes from the unexpected.

For now, I'll focus on one opportunity, the notion of creating a delightful rummage.

Opportunities:

- Create a virtual rummage sale. Each page is 50-100 images (a cross between google images with iPhone functionality). People can quickly scan what is available, maybe location limited, click through to price, live text-haggling and standard buy-now facilities.

- Create a virtual job-lot / car boot dump (maybe in addition to the above). People literally dump the contents of what they have to sell, take a pic, people get to 'rummage' through the images, tag what they are interested in and live-chat or email to finalise the purchase.

- Marketing idea - if you have a strong brand that people re-sell or trade, be it jeans or memorabilia, why not create a virtual meet-up or a virtual flash-sale for them all to meet and trade?

Observation Day 5: Community noticeboards are crap

2011-05-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

Observation: Community noticeboards are in general, rubbish. Tatty, ill-maintainted, bad locations and even worse content. This is a prime example slapped to the side a a building.

By all accounts, it is healthy for the community and individuals themselves to be involved with others in the community. So how do we get to this goodness with such woeful tools?

Opportunities:

- Co-source subsidised community wi-fi for the neighbourhood, gaining discounts for people and importantly a central, literal, home page where people can organise events, lobby for change or discuss isssues.

- Have a community van. Like an old-fashioned ice cream van, it comes round with music playing, but people can come learn about things in the hood, meet with others there and it can even sell things to be self funding or more. This could be extended into a business where this concept is run across multiple councils.

- Create easily programable and extremely robust digital versions to increase engagement and updates. Could include on location at popular local bus stops.

Observation Day 4: Portion Control

2011-05-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

Observation: Small grocers often sell using bowls, not kilograms.

It gives them a clear minimum sale, speeds up the transaction and creates a colourful and impactful display that almost becomes an impulse purchase via the enticingly easy to grab bowl.

It's smart and leaves me with the question, what else could we portion control?

Opportunities:

- Portion control your service business. No more small value, high admin transactions - make your minimum sale a day, a week, $500. If you set the terms up front and show why you are worth it, people will accept it as good business practice.

- Start a fully portion controlled restaurant / eatery - all meals served come in 100cal, 200, 400cal sizes so you can easily manage a healthy diet. Builds on the 100 calorie snack bar trend.

- Make your product or service a deliciously appealing impulse purchase. For example, add a tick box for 5 hours consulting + 1 hour free to your next invoice. Bundle your product with a complimentary one and pitch the bundle to a retailer. Examples include drinks and a snack bar for convenience outlets (a proven successful sales driver), umbrellas + tissues, ice creams + a cooler bag or perhaps you can bundle small business tax advice with doing their personal advice too.

How can you make your product a deliciously bite sized morsel?

Observation Day 3: Can my bag sit here?

2011-05-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Observation: Half of the seats in a cafe are taken up by bags.

Yes, this may be an effective social technique to keep some distance from others and a clean, convenient and safe spot to be able to reach it. But it also takes up seating space and is not necessarily safe.

Opportunities:

- Create a new type of chair with an extra 'shelf' under it for your Stuff.

- Create a chair that has an in-built storage box in it, similar to the old-fashioned school desk. In fact, why not make the table a hinged box similar to the old fashioned school desk? You could even leave secret messages in there for customers to find.

- Marketing / business ideas:

- Are you a high-end fashion retailer? Why not have a cafe or champagne lounge with special padded seats just for beloved handbags, or handbag dogs!

- Are you a retailer or f&b outlet near an airport or train station? Why not create a safe corral space for people's luggage so they can relax in comfort and traffic flows smoothly (and quickly, allowing you to serve more people).

- Similar concept, but in a high retail area - why not have fun with it and call it the trophy table, where people can proudly display their purchases. It could even be an elevated addition to the table where people can display their favourite purchase of the day - be it shoes, a vase, pot plants?

Imagine the PR and word of mouth opportunities it would bring.

Observation Day 2: How to shop when you can barely walk?

2011-05-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

Observation: An old man pausing with his shopping on a bench outside the supermarket. Standing there with his eyes closed clearly marshalling himself for the next stage in the journey home.

How to get food when you can barely walk, have a tight budget and are from an era that pre-dates popular use of the net?

Opportunities:

- A meet your neighbour community programme where you get to know your elderly neighbours and once a week walk with them or drive them to get their groceries. Get sponsorship from a major retailer so you both get 10% off and they get more traffic.

- Retailers to create a specific community support programme for the seniors in their area, offering free home delivery and on pension days arranging a volunteer roster to shop and walk home with them. Heck, why not make it an outing day, going for a picnic or sight seeing once a month followed by a shop for heavier items with all people dropped off home at the end.

- Have a limited-time window concierge service each week so all those in the area with limited mobility can have a pick-up or at least a drop off with their groceries.

- Design a super-light weight, inexpensive and easy to operate shopping buggy (cross between child buggy and A frame) that requires limited finger mobility and requires limited bending over to use.

- Retailer to offer loyalty shopping carts (the fabric covered kind) for senior customers - they get a stamp per shop and from 20 stamps they get a branded cart.

Imagine the good, the publicity and the brand loyalty.

Image credit: Amelia PS

Observation Day 1: My BFF

2011-05-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

Observation: School children always seem to walk home in twos. Girls, boys. Girls in particular start dressing like each other, doing their hair like each other.

The opportunities:

- Promotional idea - for tween brands such as fashion, make-up and media - create a BFF day, limited entry - people can only come in twos! The entire day has two for one offers. Could also be harnessed by products with more emotive moments, from cards to baking mixes and teas - why not create and then own that event each year, tied with a major media partner to make it big?

- New Business idea - A BFF market to teach younger girls and boys entrepreneurial principles, with their own in-built support team?

- Brand learnings - BFFs are great because they celebrate the person we are. How can you celebrate the person your customers are and at least go some way to them liking your brand that little bit more?

Image credit: XO laptops

Observation to creation: 30 days of new ideas

2011-05-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

What to do with a window of opportunity? Create.

So here goes, 30 days, 30 new ideas entirely based on the day's observation. Inspired by a useful exercise recommended by IDEO to train yourself to really observe the world around you and see the opportunities for improvement all around. This is also an exercise that innovation trainers often use.

The ideas here are free for you to take and run with and ideally to act as a catalyst to see new opportunities in your own business. I hope they can be a daily spark of inspiration.

Try it and let me know what you come up with.

Can we do it in reverse?

2011-04-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Microloans and microbusinesses are an incredibly powerful force for positive change in developing countries. Pioneered and brought to scale by Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank (for which he won a Nobel Prize in 2006), the model has now been used in many developing countries by both aid and private organisations.

New models such as Kiva, The Acumen Fund and OrphanIT are harnessing this principle with new technologies and localised action to effect further positive change.

I wonder - could we do it in reverse? Can we use the same methods to help people in need in developed countries too?

Some examples could include:

Microloans - A gap-filling micro-loan service tied to a major supermarket chain. A friends micro-bank, like they do with circles of women in Africa, supprting positive, repsonsible money management with minimal charges. In effect, acting like an extended family network.
Kiva - replicate the model directly, for micro-businesses and supported with mentors, meet-ups, private social networks. Could be country based or local community based.
OrphanIT - Grown from an abundance of both orphans and IT skilled people in India in particular, what do you have a local abundance of that can work reciprocally to improve a local need? Is it apple trees and young teenage mums - why not create Mother's Own pure natural apple juice?

The great thing about all of these models is that they all support positive, smart and responsible behaviours likely to not only breed success but stability for individuals and their families.

You? How could you reverse the models and help your community?

Image credit: Visual Photos

Is it YOUR dream?

2011-04-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

Seth Godin: It's so easy to be sold on the combination of compliance, consumption and approval by the powers that be. Dreams are too important to sell cheap.

Dream in big.

Full, slightly ornery post here in the wake of the wedding.

Loving Seth's sentiment, but also enjoyed seeing what was clearly Will and Kate's happy dream on the day too.

Image credit: http://www.american-doll-outfitters.com/

Sounds like...

2011-04-25T10:51:00.000-07:00

Today I realised that to understand the new, you need to start with the old. Something we do intuitively as marketers, but something that by being explicit, we can use more effectively.

Lucky girl that I am, I am currently visiting Spain. And strangely, I keep thinking about Africa. There is something about the sparse, arid vegetation, dry hot taste in the air and the tinge of burning smoke that echoes experiences in Africa. My brain is intuitively framing my understanding of this new place with the other.

Which makes sense. How do we learn, speak, understand without building on what is? From crawling to walking.

Marketing innovative new products, how do you make people want it, speed the adoption curve? Short answer: people need to get it before they buy/use it. So, start with what people know, then take them on the journey with you to a new understanding of what they can do. Examples include Salesforce.com and their "no software" graphic, Apple with their simple examples of conversations and spoof-PC ads, Intel simplifying micro-processors to a simple visual of Intel inside.

It's not the only tactic for helping people 'get' your product, but it can fast track the process.

You? What have you you described as sounds like, tastes like, feels like..?

2011-04-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

So, pop up has been hot for a while.

Stores, more recently food outlets. In disused retail spaces, warehouses, trucks, vans, tuk tuks. See a recent round-up care of Flavourpill here.

Why do we get so excited about them?

According to several theories on emotional branding (e.g. emotional branding, lovemarks, brand jam and others) it is a sense of exclusivity and mystery that helps us connect with brands. We feel special and therefore we choose to connect to the brand which makes us feel that way.

Beyond fashion and food, how can we apply the pop up excitement in different ways, different industries?

Here's some different frames to illuminate the potential for other ways this technique can be applied to your brand. And incidentally, how you can give back to your customers.

Translate physical to virtual - can you create a virtual pop up experience or offer?
One to many - Instead of one pop-up, can you multiply locations, people, offers? Imagine doing a mass pop-up around the city, a mass pop-up of your product or service taking over a disused or ordinary space.
Pop up to serve - If you have a service, can you pop up right where you're needed? Think massages at the end of a race, accounting or life advice for individuals affected by organisational collapse?
Crowd-source your pop-up - Engage your customers who can vote where you pop-up and fun details. You never know, you could be popping up on the top of the Empire state building dressed as sailors, with your customers along for fun.

For my business, virtual desktops, we could take the benefits - being able to work anywhere, on any device, and create pop-up co-workings spots in ingenious locations and styles. You just have to be in the virtual desktops user club to know.

One of the best examples of the notion of pop-up that I have experienced is 'Secret Cinema' in London. You register, receive an email outlining only what to wear and an oblique clue. One booked you are given a location and a time to meet. It is a fairytale experience of delight that does not publicise but now gets 500 - 700 people per event. Harnessing the magic of mystery to not just promote a brand but create one.

What we say no to defines us

2011-04-12T06:20:00.000-07:00

I did a stupid thing. Then I did another, trying to fix it and in fact, compounding it.

The result? My 'brand' is mud.

With myself too.

What you say no to defines you. Your brand, your work, your life.

So, I am reminded and move on.

Embracing the trends: Random Acts of Kindness

2011-03-12T00:27:00.000-08:00

Cited as one of Trendwatching's 2011 major trends, Random Acts of Kindness (RAK), is part of a plethora of trends such as Generation G (Generosity), crowdsourcing and indeed the entire social media hive can be said to be in part driven by the desire to give and share.

So - how are you embracing this trend for your business?

Random Acts of Kindness can be a way to express your brand, gain awareness and loyalty with target customers and actually give back at the same time. Businesses with Corporate Social Responsibility programmes have been shown to have better profitability and staff retention, so this is a multi-faceted approach for the business.

Here's 5 ideas to get you started:

How do you make a difference in people's lives - is it the supply of stationery so they can communicate, the supply of energy so they and their family stay warm? Find people at the edges of this - those who show a small struggle to pay their bill or those who love pink pens and surprise them with a little extra based on this. A family pack of slippers, a $10 credit, a pack of pink notes to go with the pink pens? Vodafone once surprised me (mid-contract) with a 3 month magazine subscription, which highlighted their unique brand position and definitely increased my brand preference.
If you have a supermarket product - ask your merchandising team to buy a random customer one of your products that may be suitable for the customer and give it to a random stranger.
If you have a service, catch up with your customer over coffee and ask them 'what else'? What else would they really like to do if they had the time / resource? Then work with them to make it happen, maybe with a free-start to help them achieve it, maybe making some calls to find other supporters to split the cost. A coffee, a few calls and it may make a world of difference!
Find your best customers. Surprise them with a hand-written thank you card.
Find a not-for profit that people in your team believe in (there will be one) and volunteer your team for a day. Invite some of your customers to join in the fun.

Interflora and KLM have great examples (covered in the original Trendwatching article). One brand that is defined by their Random Acts of Kindness? The Ritz Carlton. Employees going above and beyond for guests is the stuff of legend, the stories being told again and again.

The above ideas may not be completely random, but do build support and give permission for spontaneity. The rest is up to you and your fantastic team!

You? What Random Act of Kindness will you do today?

Successful is risky

2011-03-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

As one of my favourite writers, Seth Godin, once said, not taking risks is risky.

So you pull together a marketing plan, using the data, calculating the ROI and working with agencies to maximise your reach and NPS. And launch a campaign that is bullet-proofed to deliver to objectives.

Your competitor launches at the same time...using the same data...and with a similar campaign.

ROI squashed as cut-through, brand-linkage and call to action lost in the confusion.

Safe is risky.

Guaranteed you have great ideas that are a little left of centre. Talk to some customers, ask them what they think. Guaranteed they are going to make those great ideas even better.

What better way to get 'risky' ideas over the line than customer say-so?

YOU? what innovative campaign ideas have you tried? What did your customers think?

Whoever is closest to the customer, wins.

2011-02-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

Through dealing with retailers, selling direct and being a marketer I have come to the almost obsessive belief that whoever is closest to the customer will, eventually, have the most successful business.

Sounds obvious, but can be easy to forget.

For example, if I am managing a Large Brand, I can obsess over retail distribution, pricing, advertising and new product development. Playing with (useful) levers to get the maximum return for my marketing dollars.

But if the retailer deletes my product what do I have?

Unless the customer feels close to my brand and demands to buy it elsewhere, I've got nothing. Even if the retailer keeps the product, they usually do so at the price of more margin, unless I have the voice of the customer with me.

Because that is what is being close to the customer is about too - understanding their needs so you get it right. Having real conversations with them so you do develop products and Brands that they love and will follow.

Whomever is closest to the customer wins because:

- You know what they want and give it to them

- Structurally - you have the power in the distribution chain

- In an increasingly direct world inc. online sales, you need to be there to catch the ball as customers shift purchasing behaviours to a more direct model.

- In the face of increasing choice, people buy brands they like and trust. Without a relationship, you are left with the levers of price, features and high risk NPD.

Examples of companies that get close to the customer in industry-changing ways include Zappos, Metro Bank (a new model in banking), Carman's, Porshe and Nike.

Those who are closest to the customer win because they are able to deliver to customer needs, build a valuable asset in the relationship itself, build loyalty (from both sides) and simply care enough to get it right.

You? How are you shifting your business to get closer to the customer?

Photo credit: Mike's Journal

Look up! A simple marketing idea

2011-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Walking along recently I was forced to look up by the contrast of a brilliantly lit building in my area. Amongst the finery of Mayfair the luminescent glow of green, yellow and blue neon tubes draped in windows definitely got my attention.

As did the fact that the very beautiful building is for rent.

Elegant, cool, effective and low cost. Love it.

YOU? What could you do that with a bit of creativity could have a BIG impact?

Dreaming in BIG

2011-01-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

Innovation and inspiration can come from any angle. But inevitably they come from dreaming of ideas.

So why dream from the possible?

Why not dream from the seeming impossible?

Why not dream in BIG?

Some great business examples include Kiva, Old Spice (the campaign), Earth Hour and Flickr.

I'm dreaming of you dreaming in BIG and it's making me dream in BIG. Fancy that.

You? What's your BIG dream?

Image and artwork credit: Christo and Jean-Claude

Fishing for global insight

2010-12-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

Understanding your customers and brand perceptions in multiple countries is not a one size fits all project. Differences in cultures, infrastructure, communication channels and sheer geography mean that one methodology will often not work across different countries, as articulated well in this Marketing Week article by Steve Hemsley.

The difficulties and expense that these studies can represent is considerable and can cause conflict between offices.

So why not enlist the local team as the local experts they already are - and empower them to collect and collate the research for you? Working from central questions and a rigorous framework, just expressed differently in different regions (in consultation with a research expert), doing the hands-on research can only help local teams get closer to customers, more engaged in the results and implications.

Creative research methodologies involving imagery, stories and clear, repeatable metrics could create a wealth of layered multi-national customer insight, at lower cost and deeper engagement, for both your team and your customers. Who knows, maybe your sales manager, accountant or CEO might enjoy the venture into something different!

Your team will now know how to fish, and will be able to repeat to catch more tasty insights in the future.

You? Do you think this is possible, flawed or will work for your organisation?

Image credit

An ice rink for Christmas

2010-12-03T07:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the most powerful form marketing is to capture the feeling of your brand and make it tangible for potential customers.

And that is exactly what Tiffany & Co. have done with their sponsorship of Somerset House Ice Skating in London, UK.

The experience is magical, laced with excitement and romance in the most elegant of ways.

Totally Tiffany & Co.

You? How can you capture the emotion of your brand and make it tangible for customers, what is the purest expression of that - could it be a picnic in the park, a monster truck show or a high-flying stunt?

Prolonging the love

2010-12-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

Following on from my post about celebrating the depression I was inspired by reading a trend-spotting, or rather trend-capturing article on Care and Repair by Jane Fulton-Suri of IDEO.

It demonstrates examples of a return to traditional notions of quality, care of items and repair, rather than ongoing consumption. Great examples include lastyearsmodel.com and Model Shoe Renew in Berkeley, California.

From a customer perspective, how could you help them get satisfaction in this new way of thinking?

- Could you offer a service to re-model and re-style people's favourite garments, giving budding fashion designers an outlet and experience and customers a chance to participate in the design process?

- Why not offer car maintenance workshops, like home depot DIY classes - but for care maintenance. Everything from tuning to the sperfect polish. Could you make it a social occassion, have a girls only session or simply create a small chance for people to have fun while helping them care for their cars? Imagine how much more into their car (and potentially your brand) they will feel once they are more comfortable under the hood?
- Could you start an organisation that provided a warm, cosy and fun place for people to learn old-fashioned 'Home Economics'? Imagine a lively space that engages older people sharing their old-time skills and younger people coming in with their shared energy and walking away with their newly made scarves, darned clothers or steaming loaves of bread.

From a brand perspective, would your brand be the one that they would re-sole year after year?

Image credit: Sewingsewingmachines.net

Eleven ideas to celebrate the depression

2010-11-20T11:57:00.000-08:00

Recently I read a statement delivered by the esteemed NY Times Economics Columnist, Paul Krugman to the ANA.

"History tells us that we should not count on any kind of recovery anytime soon," he said. "The economy is depressed because people don't want to spend."

It was reported as a pronouncement of ongoing doom and caution.

What if we keep it real and accept that people are just behaving the way they need to in order to look after themselves and their families. This is our customers adjusting as needed to live well in the future. Surely this is a good thing?

So, to celebrate our customers newly focusing on that which is important to them and responding in new and creative ways to the challenge, here are 11 ideas to help customers celebrate the depression:

Send your customers a surprise bonus - just because. An extra something, a discount, $10 off their bill, some ideas on how they can use your service more efficiently.
Use your power to help your customer. If you have large purchasing power, special relationships with suppliers or unique access to places and objects - how can you leverage this for your customers benefit?
Do less. Charge less. Ask your customers what they can do without to pay less.
Support customers' re-focused lives - what about supporting local volunteering organisations, holding a street-long open dinner party or supporting walking to school?
Facilitate re-training and re-employment activities - start / wrap in a re-training program at your business that supports people that may have had forcible employment changes. Help them help each other.
Promote the great new more financially conscious lifestyle people are living, publicly. I saw a great campaign with luscious luxe green styling with the message "saving is the new spending". How can you make your customers feel proud of their new conscious choices?
Spend less as an organisation. Tell people people about it and the fact that this means that you did not need to put up your charges to them.
Spark a 'tight-ass tuesday' dinner party idea for customers. Share recipes, images, theme ideas and social linkages to help them do it.
Sponsor a council to create local free events for your area.
Utilise your space. Is your foyer, meeting rooms or carpark unused at times - how could you share this with customers to help them achieve their goals more cost effectively?
Support people to get and stay engaged in their community, irrespective of their work status. A great example of this is the Innocent big knit.

All of these celebrate the reality of people being more conscious and financially responsible whilst supporting your goal of increasing awareness and loyalty.

I don't know about you...but I'm feeling ready to get out and celebrate right about now :)

You? How are you helping customers celebrate the depression. Or do you think this is unreasonably fluffy for cash-constrained marketing budgets to contemplate?

Image Credit: Life Magazine (via http://www.chrisperruna.com/category/misc/)

stop talking.

2010-11-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Recently there has been discussions, presentations and articles (check out the interesting link to the Age of Singularity from @RyanMacJones here) upon the notion of 'brand purpose'. Essentially, this is a re-badged blend of a good old fashioned brand vision and corporate social responsibility (CSR) marketing.

My challenge: stop talking about it to your peers and do good things.

As a marketer we need to sell constantly, to our management, our sales team and our peers to get our ideas across and implemented. Taking the principle of brand purpose at it's base level - the whole point is to do good things. And do so in a way that sustainable for your business (i.e. delivers profitability).

So now that you have sold it in - stop talking, start doing.

You? What are some of the great brand purpose initiatives you are initiating?

Image credit: Zami.com

A short recipe for naming

2010-11-12T07:22:00.000-08:00

Naming can be hard. Excrutiating. Or a no-brainer.

Here is a simple method that I follow to cook up some great names for new products and businesses.

Use physical or virtual pen and paper and ideally a bunch of people who have an understanding of your customers, who you are as a business are (i.e. your values, purpose, people) and a mix of perspectives. Then ask the following three questions to spark a basket-load of ideas:

1. What names would clearly tell people what benefit there is to them of using this product, or simply, what it does. Let's use a desktop cloud computing company as an example.

What it does for people: freedom, functionality everywhere, always-on, device freedom, easy desktops, forget about it. i.e. Get started (note - web design)
What it is: a no PC PC, a computer without the box, a PC in your pocket, a vitual PC, tech-agnostic, flexible personal computing. I.e. Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud.

2. Who are we? And why are we special?

Exceptional architects, experience management, Ex consultants, Dynamic consultants, Old fixers, Men with spanners, formidable, Bob's PCs, business technologists, deep computing thinkers.

3. What is a name that is completely unrelated to the product or service, but has the potential to have meaning loaded within it (i.e. become a real brand). It is different enough in the industry to have cut-through and strong enough to create visual cues.

For example, Yellow, Orange, , alice euphemia, Zara, Lululemon

Method:

Brainstorm.

Check in with customers.

Decide.

Go.

You? What do you think of this method? What names do you love and why?

Image credit

Endless loops

2010-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Workshops, actions, engagement, meetings, calls, following up, managing up, managing down, minuting, maximising...hurrying.

I wonder, what would the corporate world be like without the endless loops of communication, planning, sharing responsibility and activity organising. And we just focused on the doing.

What would organisations be able to achieve if we weren't spending time in endless loops?

Would the world be a different place?

Sparking some ways we could do this. What if....?

- The entire organisation had a 5-to-do rule. No more than 5 major areas of focus.

- Daily tasks can only be listed on post its (inspiration: 99%)

- Everyone does what they say they will, first time.

- The organisation celebrates when people say no.

- Work only in small teams, with discrete focus and fast actions (inspiration: Thoughtworks).

- From an organisational perspective - making really clear goals, resource allocation and basis for achievement > lessens jockeying (and associated time wasting activities) and improves focus.

- Shorter time-frames for delivery (no more than 1 week)

- Entire org run in an agile manner (aka 37signals and Thoughtworks).

- Have customer voting each week on what the org should do > pinpoint accuracy for delivery to customer needs.

- Say it is OK to fail. People try new things, better ways and stop wasting time covering their tush.

- Cookie cutter communications - clearly outlined 'you should communicate this and then', so people share what needs to be shared, without waste.

- The opposite - total acceptance of different working styles but ruthless accountability for the work that needs to be done.

- Task lists / business priorities with voting buttons - decisions made fast.

- Simple (gasp) paper signs on everyones desk - this is what I do, this is what I don't, this is what I decide.

- All work is integrated into some form of project, with project 'bubbles' sharing and overlapping. (note, need to be cautious with notional business aka SM style distraction

- Could have a 'mute' button on all incoming information streams for when we need to focus.

What are things you do, or could do to stop endless loops in your organisation?

Me, I'm going start with clarifying responsibilities and the post-it to-do list.

image credit: adriapocera

Why little brands are sexy

2010-11-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

Having a conversation with another brand geek made me wonder - what makes it so hot to work with big shot brands?

So, you get social recognition (oh, you work for them.....ooooh), bigger budgets (oh, you managed that squillion dollar campaign.....oooooh), recruiter recognition (oh, you tick that box....oooh).

But little brands are sexy. Evolving, passionate, meaningful and unlimited potential. Sexy.

It is a hard choice as a marketer to say no to the platinum blondes of brands. However it is with little brands that you have the scope to do truly great work, shaping the positioning in the market, inspiring the team and being forced and allowed by your size to do truly creative marketing.

Some great examples: Mast Brothers Chocolate, Pom wonderful, Craigslist, McIlhenny Tabasco, Bacon Salt, Little Creatures, Cullman Liquidation, Carmans, Hummingbird Bakery, Honest Tea, Trunki, Maldon Salt, Fisherman's Friend, Monocle, Dumbo Feather. Filled with attitude, in touch with their customers and with brands that outweigh their org structure.

As a marketer, the small brand is definitely sexy.

Nope, don't care what its called.

2010-10-29T04:47:00.000-07:00

And why should I? If it doesn't tell me what it does for me, what does it matter if it is called Loft, Links or Lollipops. Case in point: McDonalds. I know exactly what it does for me, not because of the name, but because of the brand.

Unless the name does something for me as a customer - I don't care.

Customers care what you do for them. If we delay until we find perfection in a name, its not focusing on the brand. Focusing on what really matters for customers and delivering that is real branding. Don't wait, do.

Urban observation: Unlaced...

2010-10-29T03:21:00.000-07:00

Cool people don't do laces. If they do it is with a reluctant, just kicked on air. From Cons to this season's latest sharp lace up high heeled, fur lined and spike heeled ankle boot, it just doesn't do to be too tightly laced.

There are designer and even bespoke unlaced shoes, songs, forums, books (Ok - not sure this one is at all cool) radio programs, a facebook page and many fashion and footwear pages dedicated to the unlaced. There is even a how to...to not do your laces.

There are obvious parallels. But I wonder...at what point did it become uncool to be laced, or even, in control? Was it the translation of the prisoner shoe to the outside world, Run DMC in the 80s with their Adi's or did it begin with the rebellion against the corset?

Unlaced, a small detail, but a perfect signal that members of the 'unlaced' tribe will notice.

Cook kicks picture credit: how's your edge.

the many different faces of brand consultancy

2010-10-24T23:36:00.000-07:00

We are currently going through a process of selecting a brand consultancy to work with and we are amazed, scared and excited at the different responses to the brief.

Branding is an inexact art with many different interpretations (there are 4.3m Google image results for branding process) and certainly my brief wasn't perfect. We are focusing on a visual look and feel to move a logo-mark to true brand expression.

From the same brief we received straight to art, perceptual directions, initial strategic thought with no clarification, no questions and some brilliant questions back to our business. Confusion. But it is a useful process for the reflection back upon ourselves, refining and revealing our thinking and aesthetic preferences.

Tips for branding consultancies responding to a similar pitch:

1. Read the material given (sounds simple).

2. Ask more questions! The companies who didn't did not think things through properly and responded slightly off the mark.

3. Use visual stimuli: to help discussion, taking things away from terminology and into hearts

4. Some companies repeated back the reasons why we hired them as original thought. Nice validation but sounded strangely familiar...and patronising.

5. Get passionate - we're excited and we need our partners to be too!

6. Customise. Let the customer and need drive the process, not the other way around. A process by numbers makes a client feel like just another number.

For some other thinking on how to delight potential clients and show them that you 'get it', check out this article in campaign, comments on being memorable, great suggestions on all stages of responses from experienced hands via the IPA who mention the classic - chemistry (note, this is more specifically directed at advertising)

This is by no means a complete list - what has your experience been, from either a client or agency perspective?

Meanwhile - we are excited about heading to the next stage!

2010-09-08T23:52:00.000-07:00

Any brand can ignite a movement with its
customers, so long as the brand can move people to believe in a company,
to believe in a better way, and to believe in themselves - John Moore.

Thank you for the inspiration, John (brand autopsy blog).

Is the best creative in the building your Finance Manager?

2010-07-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ongoing research by Humantific in a fascinating project to understand the design thinking process, Design Thinking Made Visible, found that some students in Business Schools had the same type of creative thinking, in the truest sense of the word, as creative students. And vice versa.

So - what innovation goodness are we missing out in our marketing-led ideation sessions?

Can you invite the Finance Manager, the bus-boy or the logistics co-ordinator into the room next time you have have an ideation session? They may just be the spark that ignites your next success.

If not - you may all just have had a lot of fun in the process. Great!

Let me know how it goes :)

Hat tip to @Rubyku for sharing the research project. Thank you, it's awesome :)

Why is it the inside that matters?

2010-07-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

It has been hot here in London. Yes, you read right, an Australian calling London hot! Amongst the over-heated crowd I noticed patterns peeking out from beneath thonged feet (flip flops for non-antipodeans).

Why would someone go to the effort of buying shoes where you can barely see the pattern?

I was reminded of a time when a friend showed me his fine new work shoes, but was most excited by the inner lining depicting a sunset scene. Likewise, a hand-bag maker once told me that often, the reason people bought her bags was because of the lining (I too was seduced by the lining for my Nancy Bird bag). Recently I was researching a client's online experience and the one thing that customers repeatedly mentioned was their delight in the wrapping. Clearly the same occurs for Apple lovers given the recent spate of 'unwrapping' videos.

Expanding the thought, the same delight in discovering an unexpected interior occurs with houses (warehouse conversions), service and even people such as Susan Boyle.

I am not sure there is a straight answer to the question "Why is it the inside that matters?", but I think it can start to be explained by an overall concept of consumption=personal. It is that feeling that the design or moment is rare and can only be experienced by me (or a select few). They are all richly sensory moments, from the vividness of a pattern to the texture of fine silk lining. It ties into the notion of brand experience, or moment of truth for a brand.

One thing is for sure - it is at that moment that your 'thing' becomes personal. You connect. And the love and loyalty begin.

How can you create something special on the inside to delight your customers, and keep them coming back? Or have you already? Why do you think it is the inside that matters?

photo credit: nancybird

how to touch the untouchable?

2010-06-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

Is your customer hard to get to, let alone have a conversation with?

Well...why are you trying to have a conversation with them?

Why should they listen?

Maybe it is us who should be doing the listening. To what they have to say.

Mack Collier (@mackcollier) recently shared that Dell customers would be willing to pay more to get better service. An interesting finding for a highly price driven category. Kraft listened when the public told them that the name for the new version of the iconic Australian brand Vegemite, iSnack 2.0, stunk and killed the name in 4 days. As a result both brands have gained much positive media exposure for the way they listened to customers.

Maybe your customer (or potential customer) is not untouchable, they merely expect you to get to know them a little better first?

Flickr photo credit: Verces300