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February 2008 Archives
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February 28, 2008
The Future Is Free
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Inspiration
Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson has a book coming out next year titled FREE (Hyperion) and the sneak peek is fascinating. Anderson argues that the future of business is all about zero.
The rise of "freeconomics" is being driven by the underlying technologies that power the Web. Just as Moore's law dictates that a unit of processing power halves in price every 18 months, the price of bandwidth and storage is dropping even faster. Which is to say, the trend lines that determine the cost of doing business online all point the same way: to zero.As much as we complain about how expensive things are getting, we're surrounded by forces that are making them cheaper. Forty years ago, the principal nutritional problem in America was hunger; now it's obesity, for which we have the Green Revolution to thank. Forty years ago, charity was dominated by clothing drives for the poor. Now you can get a T-shirt for less than the price of a cup of coffee, thanks to China and global sourcing. So too for toys, gadgets, and commodities of every sort. Even cocaine has pretty much never been cheaper (globalization works in mysterious ways).
Continue reading "The Future Is Free"
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February 13, 2008
Turning Knowledge Into Wisdom
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Productivity
Adweek's Brian Morrissey wrote a feature in the February 4 print issue titled "The New Gold Standard." He argues why data--and the ability to use it--will change the way we do everything. Key insights, as highlighed in the article itself, include:
- Madison Avenue should look to Wall Street to understand the future of advertising.
- Those who find a way to turn "knowledge" into "wisdom" will end up ahead.
- As consumers catch on to the value of their data, expect them to want a cut.
The above three takeaways are all you need to know about this article--they capture it perfectly.
I've written before about this never ending tension between creative guts and number crunchers, so the real jewel for me in Morrissey's piece was the idea of those who can figure out how to turn knowledge into wisdom will end up winning.
This is a real challenge for Personality™ because I think we have tons of knowledge we're sitting on. Whether it's data, books or brains, we know a lot about what we do. Of course we have even more to learn, but the real genius of what we do will come as we continue to channel and focus our knowledge into wisdom.
As Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”
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February 11, 2008
What Word Do You Own?
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Brand & Identity
Al Ries wrote a great piece for Advertising Age (subscription required) last week. Using Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as a backdrop, Ries explains that the "race for the Democratic presidential nomination once again demonstrates the power of one of the most fundamental concepts in marketing: owning a word in the mind."
This idea of owning a word in the mind of your customer is really powerful. "If you want to run for office, if you want to launch a new brand, if you want to jump-start your business career, the first question to ask yourself begins: 'What word do I want to own in the minds of my prospects...'"
Ries goes on to give examples of modern-day brands, both winners and losers in the attempt to own a word. He ends with three mistakes marketers often make when it comes to identifying a slogan or owning a word. I've paraphrased them here:
- Developing in isolation
- Trying to make it too exciting or emotional
- Thinking short-term instead of long-term
It's encouraging to know that our 21 frames of the Personality Profile™ answer the need for brands to own a unique word in the minds of their public.
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February 8, 2008
Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Business
I was conversing with a friend and unofficial "business" adviser yesterday and he put forward some questions that really made me think. He said, "If you closed down your business today, what would you regret that you never tried to accomplish? What could you have done? What should you have done? What would you have done?"
Life is full of couldas, shouldas and wouldas. I want to lead a company that lives without those as much as possible.
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February 6, 2008
Starbucks, a Step in the Right Direction
Posted by Shawn Stewart | Filed under: Brand & Identity
We first wrote about Starbucks losing their way in May of 2007. We did it again in November when Brad mentioned their undesirable breakfast sandwiches.
We were clueing into the reality that they were losing their "cause." And it seems that the newly reestablished CEO, Howard Schultz, agrees with us. In an article posted the other day on Yahoo news Schultz announced the end of the breakfast sandwich--even though it boosts a store's annual revenue by $35,000.
So what do we mean by "cause"? We've identified 21 personality attributes that we call frames. These 21 frames create a unique Personality Profile™ of the organization.
The fourth frame of the 21 frames is cause--in short it's an organization's role in sustaining the greater good. There are four kinds of cause:
- Supply--supply something of value.
- Reform--change the way things are valued.
- Restore--replace something of value.
- Rally--show the way to value.
Every organization exhibits to some degree all four of these, but one trait is always primary. Starbucks lost theirs, and it seems they're taking a step back towards it.
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February 5, 2008
Straight Talk: Three Ways Companies Lose the Nerve to Communicate Clearly
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: E-mail Newsletter
Have you ever watched someone walk along the edge of a curb, treating it as if it were a balancing beam? One foot in front of the other—toe to heel, heel to toe. It's no big surprise they usually manage to keep from falling off the curb and "plummeting" six whole inches to the street below. After all, they are doing something they've done since infancy—walk straight without falling over. Not terribly difficult.
Now suppose that person is you. In front of you is an eight-inch wide curb stretching 20 feet in length. Your goal: put one foot in front of the other until you get to the other side. In other words, walk straight without falling over. This time though, the curb isn't six inches from the street, it's 60 feet. That's right, there's a 60-foot drop to the blacktop below. Scary, huh?
The only thing that's changed from the first scenario to the second scenario is the consequence for failing to stay on the curb. That's it. But that's more than enough to allow fear to enter the picture. Essentially you begin to second-guess your ability to do what you know for sure you can do—walk in a straight line without falling over.
Ironically, your second-guessing and lack of confidence actually heightens the likelihood for failure. What if you were able to take the same confidence you had in your abilities when the stakes weren't as high and use them in the scenario when the stakes are higher (60 feet higher to be exact)?
Continue reading "Straight Talk: Three Ways Companies Lose the Nerve to Communicate Clearly"
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