Our Blog: Think Personality
- RSS Feeds
- Atom
- RSS 1.0
- 2.0
- RSD
- (What's RSS?)
September 2005 Archives
« August 2005 | | October 2005 »
September 28, 2005
Do What You Do Best
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Business
Earlier this week I went to dinner with the vice president of marketing for a private hospital here in Southern California. Her resume is larger than life, having worked in the marketing industry for decades. Her list of mega-brand clients and former employers would be recognizable by just about anybody in America. Why she even took the time to meet with me I am still sorting through, but when the opportunity to engage her wisdom came, I took it.
Personality™ is paying for her help. That's right, we're doing what we ask clients and potential clients every day. Hire people that know more than you to do more than you ever could so that you can stick to what you do best. We're paying someone to help us because we know we don't know it all.
You don't build your own computers. Dell does a good job at that.
You don't make your own paper. Weyerhaeuser does pretty well at that.
You don't do your own legal work. Lawyers do a decent job at that.
Do what you do best. Hire out what you don't. It's hard to get better at what you do when you're doing what you shouldn't. And if you're doing what you shouldn't how will you ever be the best at doing what you should?
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
September 26, 2005
Making the Most of a Convention
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Marketing
This originally appeared in our e-mail newsletter. If you're not getting it, you can sign up today.
A few weeks ago I manned a booth at the Minnesota State Fair for my alma mater, Bethel University. In the process I learned a few things about what works and what doesn't when you're trying to connect with potential customers in a convention hall.
Continue reading "Making the Most of a Convention"
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
September 22, 2005
Good Press for JetBlue
Posted by Shawn Stewart | Filed under: Public Relations
In case you haven't seen it on the news or caught it on Drudge, a JetBlue flight had to make an emergency landing yesterday at Los Angeles International Airport. Without getting into all the technical particulars, let's just say the front landing gear would not retract after take off. The pilots realized it and determined with crews on the ground that LAX would be the best place to land the plane (after circling for 3 hours to burn the weight of fuel).
One of the funny things, to me at least, was that the passengers were able to watch the news about themselves onboard, while circling for three hours.
Since when is a minor calamity good press? Well that's simple. First of all the pilots made a perfect landing, besides the flames shooting out from under the front landing gear, it looked as smooth as silk. The skill of the JetBlue pilots was completely captured on video and aired everywhere in creation–that's a good thing.
Lastly and perhaps just as important: Every passenger I saw interviewed last night said the same thing. "The crew was amazing, the flight attendants were calm, reassuring, helpful and always very professional." I don't know about you, but if I'm on a plane that has a mechanical problem, I want to be flying an airline that handles itself like that!
Grace under fire as the old saying goes... Bad circumstance, good press. That's Personality!
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
Dove's "Real Beauty" Marketing Campaign
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Marketing
Dove beauty products have been getting a boost from their "Real Beauty" campaign which features wrinkled, freckled and full-figured women—basically real women—instead of size 2 models. But how do you justify such a move to the men on the team? When they seemed unconvinced that typical advertising makes many women feel inferior, a simple—yet blunt—analogy did the job: "Imagine thinking every day that your [penis] isn't big enough. Men just aren't surrounded by images that make them feel deeply insecure." Sometimes personality takes guts.
Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
September 19, 2005
Weakness Works
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Marketing
Last month I wrote about the power of weakness and, wouldn't you know, a creative soul on the Personality™ team suggested I actually try it out. His very suggestion made me think back to when I was a kid, when I would pray to God that he would help me to win my soccer games. Every time I ended the short little prayer, "God help us win," an overwhelming thought took over and said, "Maybe you should actually be an answer to your own prayer and go win it."
My lesson in practicing the power of weakness turned out to be easier and more rewarding than I thought.
Continue reading "Weakness Works"
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
September 16, 2005
Napoleon Dynamite in Microsoft Spoof Video
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Creativity
Software giant Microsoft screened a video spoofing the pop culture hit Napoleon Dynamite at a developer's conference earlier this week. The video featured Microsoft CEO Bill Gates as himself and actor Jon Heder as Napoleon Dynamite. You can catch a shaky version of it at iFilm, captured with a video camera during the screeing.
Apparently the self-deprecating spoof video is a staple with Microsoft. It's moves like this that go a long way towards improving the company's image and giving them some actual personality.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
September 15, 2005
Free eBooks from Seth Godin
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Technology
Knock, Knock and Who's There are two new booklets from Seth Godin you can download for free. Knock, Knock covers web pages and how to convert visits into sales. Who's There explores the world of blogging and offers some tips for how to spread your ideas through the blogosphere.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink