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Yesterday I saw a super happy person.
A younger women, in uniform, in a work car and working by herself. For a utility of all things.
Yet she emanated happiness and focus.
Why? Because she was surrounded by her own music, was wearing the uniform with her own style and was doing things her way. And she was working late too.
She had made wherever she was HER place.
How are you making your place(s) YOURS?
(In an inspired frame of mind thanks to Linchpin by Seth Godin, Matt at Life without Pants and @MelissaGorzela)
photo credit: whsimages
Thinking about corporate social responsibility in particular this week. And I wonder, are we looking the other way?
With all the focus on ROS, ROE, ROI....are we looking at things in reverse?
Sure, we need to find money to support change initiatives and do so sustainably. But who has REALLY ever changed behaviour because of their head, logic and the company's money. I think we are looking the wrong way....with all the focus on return.... we are missing the point.
It is good. It feels good. It helps. It makes others feel good.
And that feeling is what really drives sustained engagement and change.
Money shmoney. If people (who make up companies) believe and it is their hearts that are engaged, they will find a way to make it sustainable financially.
What do you think? Are these glasses too rosy?
photo credit, the very cute Derek (lilbuttz)
With all the business heroes, stars and mavens, it's easy to forget the other star performers.
Those who have little (at least to begin with).
Yet somehow, their children end up going to good schools and performing well at University. And perhaps they own their own home outright. Or they manage to pay the rent and eat well.
These are the people who I admire, who work 350 days in the year, making little, but little by little, and with clear goals and values - transforming their lives.
And they are successful. In their own way.
They show courage, positivity, hard work and a determined vision of what they would like to achieve. If they can come so far, perhaps we can learn from them and make that special project happen, achieve that raise or maybe, change our world.
respect.
photo credit: kdriese
Wonderment. Yesterday, whilst selling off goods and chattels at a local market I saw the power of the Nike brand.
In an endeavour to continue the re-use cycle of my MUCH loved running shoes, I threw them in to the mix of oddments as I laid my life on sale at a local market.
Despite their clear use, these shoes were snapped up with glee. In fact, by people who didn't even fit them!
I am happy my shoes will continue their life and am reminded of the long memory of consumers for strong brands, even with significantly reduced above the line advertising.
I wonder however if their more "engaged" consumers through a more integrated / engaging marketing strategy are actually more engaged than we all were with the message to 'just do it'?
What are your thoughts on Nike's marketing strategy?
image: www.sneakerfiles.com
I am privileged to support some amazing businesses, getting involved in strategy stuff.
But sometimes it is the little details that make the wheels fall off.
It is also the little details that took up all of my time today whilst I was supposed to be working on insights to drive their business in the longer term.
So - I ask myself "What's the worst that can happen when the wheels fall off"? Is the immediate pain worth it to ensure that the long term direction is maintained?
How often do you get caught in the detail and crunch the time where you add most value? How can you change your behaviours to make sure you, and your client get the best result? Your thoughts?
flickr photo credit: Mags Tag's
Focus is absolutely required to achieve, as many sayings, both cliched and powerful tell us. It makes intuitive sense, in fact, it just feels better when you can focus on one thing.
Yet recently I realised that absolute focus can cause absolute blindness to all other things. Ok, sometimes that proves useful (shaving might be one of those moments). But what if by focusing we miss better ways to do things along the way, a better idea or even a great big STOP sign?
What are you missing through focus? Have you taken a moment, even a minute, to pause, talk to others, think about something else or simply go for a walk? It's amazing the clarity a little unfocused time can give you.
Hurrah for holidays...
Flickr photo credit: Bracketing Life
Why is it that when I look at the media strategies for big brands I often feel as if they haven't gone beyond "what we've always done" + "the web". And when I speak to small to medium businesses they can go from one extreme to the other from innovative to old-fashioned, but never just thinking - ok, what TARP weights and frequency do I need to hit to have a high likelihood of success? And to impress our retail buyer?
Which makes me wonder - would big brands actually do better with less?
Smaller businesses feel the impact of their activities immediately, and therefore test and measure faster and with more direct customer feedback than some of the big brands. This is done with less time and dollars, forcing creativity.
One of the key differences is immediacy...having some skin.
They literally have skin in the game, unprotected by layers of budgets and departments for dispersal of impact.It is sense checking not just with sales dollars, but relevance to customers and impacts on perceptions at the same time.
So, would a big brand do better with less dollars, but more skin in the game?
There are many ways to make this happen, even when you work on some of the biggest brands! - Make a case for a proportion of the promotional budget to be experimental - including allocated people time to support that experimentation!
- Figure out what skin is for you - is it spending an hour a week on the customer service lines, venturing into online conversations, hosting a customer party or walking the supermarket floor with your buyer?
- Is there a way you can do fast, small tests for promotional ideas - and keep them coming? Try giving free hot chocolates as people are waiting for public transport in the cold, negotiate directly with a friendly store manager to test some new point of sale...how can you test, now?
This is not suggesting strategic planning gets scrapped, it is about planning for flexibility and putting in place methods for low cost testing to increase the overall effectiveness of execution - and acting like it is your skin in the game.
Flickr photo credit: Brandon Schaefer
Yesterday I saw a super happy person.
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