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Awareness precedes change

"To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are." - Eric Hoffer

David Armano has posted some clear-eyed thinking about marketing's role in the business of adding value to customer's lives, as well as where marketers often times go awry. Grill a few more burgers, grab a beer and take a look.

Seth Godin helps make the distinction clear as well at this fine post.

Who knows? Perhaps the tide of awareness is beginning to turn.

Need an entertaining and inspiring speaker for your next event?
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Happy 232nd birthday America!

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I love how it came out. I think you will too!

Sandbox_wisdom My first, and most popular, book "Sandbox Wisdom" has been republished as a gift book by Simple Truths. It's filled with beautiful illustrations and inspiring quotes. You can personalized it by purchasing it in a self-shipper and adding your own letter or note to create a high impact client or employee gift that's certain to make a great impression.

Check it out by clicking this link.

Also, the nice folks at Simple Truths are running a very special offer in celebration of the 4th of July. Starting today, and until midnight on July 9th, you can get "Great Quotes from Great Leaders" for only $10.00, including the DVD movie! Simple Truth's regular price is $19.95, so you're receiving a 50% discount. Stock up, as they make terrific gifts for friends, family and customers.

Of course, some of the leaders featured in this beautiful book, and the four minute inspirational movie, are the Founding Fathers of our great country. So turn up your speakers to enjoy some beautiful music, great photographs, and the wisdom of some of the leaders that have helped to shape our history. Just click on this link, then click "Watch This Movie," and don't forget to share it with friends, family and co-workers. Enjoy!

Note: And remember, this offer expires at 11:59 PM CST on 7/9/08.

Weekend reading

It’s mine, I tell you. Studies about the endowment effect in The Economist.

The 10 Commandments of Web Design in BusinessWeek.

Recent posts and comments on my friend Grant's blog.

Marktd - The new IF! from PSFK . . . and for free!

Or don't read a damn thing and go camping instead. But you still won't be able to escape "marketing." :)

Have a great weekend!

"Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel business." - Dave Barry

P.S. If you're at all interested in creating an endearing and enduring brand (and you know that I am), you certainly don't want to miss this. Hey . . . I may even be there.

Exchange creates change

Cell_phone_wrist_watch_2 In my most recent book I wrote, "One of the biggest challenges in today's marketplace is the ability to notice change, because we all like to mentally grasp for security and predictability. We all resist changing the way we look at the world. But we must, because every new marketplace exchange creates some kind of cultural change, which in turn creates more marketplace exchange."

Exchange creates change. What change, precisely? A change in expectations. For example, in the most recent past when you wanted to check the time, you looked at your wrist watch. Today, because of the ubiquity and portability of cell phones, you look there instead. In fact, according to AdAge.com, "The world's watch makers may be in trouble as teenagers increasingly look to their mobile phones -- rather than their wrists -- to tell time."

So what's next? A touch screen interface, cell phone wrist watch? I have no idea. But I'm sure that Steve Jobs has a guess or two. So, here's something to be paranoid about: What's changing in the world of your customers? And how are those changes going to change their expectations of you? Because this I can assure you: Like it or not, change is coming.

People live, primarily, in their heads

A recent study has found that most people are as fixed in their habits and unadventurous as worker ants, staying close to home and following the same routes every day. For six months, researchers from Northeastern University in Boston used personal cell phones signals to track the movement of 100,000 Europeans who had no idea they were being tracked (don't worry, the researchers never knew the identities of any of those studied).

The goal was to plot the average person's daily comings and goings. Most people, the study found, rarely leave the vicinity of their home or office, remaining within a 20-mile radius almost all the time. The subjects in the study visited the same places over and over, and could usually be found in the same spot at the same time.

Many insights can be gleaned from this "news," including the strategic importance of store location and the critical imperative of making sure that people always "feel good" about their routines. But here's what struck me: It's clear from the study results that people live their lives primarily in their own heads. So when you're with people, when you see them or imagine them, try to feel the reality of their experience. And that experience is not really about the world around them. Rather, it's about the world within them.

Note: Never underestimate how much people dislike change. A Romanian village recently re-elected Mayor Neculai Ivascu even though he died shortly before the election. Ivascu had been mayor for nearly 20 years. “I know he died, but I don’t want change,” said one voter.

How to do viral video

Check out this cool viral video for Gatorade titled "Ball Girl" that was created by Chicago's Element 79 Partners. Note: It aired this morning on ABC's Good Morning America.

"The crisis at General Motors is not of its making."

That's the first line in a recent Forbes.com article by Larry Flint. He goes on to blame gas prices, the economy, and the auto industry slump in general. "Much of the blame lies elsewhere," he writes. "but the auto giant is in peril."

You've got to be kidding me. GM, and only GM, has made the predictions, decisions, and contingency plans that have forced them to take desperate measures like this:

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp initiated a series of steps on Monday from cutting production of trucks to offering aggressive incentives to combat the drop in demand for large vehicles amid record-high gas prices. The production cuts and increased incentives come as the largest U.S. automaker struggles with a deepening slump in U.S. auto sales amid a consumer exodus from pickup trucks and SUVs. "We really want to spark the market at the end of the month," GM's U.S. sales chief Mark LaNeve said. "We want to close the quarter strong." GM also said it hired Citigroup to help review its Hummer brand that the automaker is looking to sell or revampm (emphasis mine).

Close the quarter strong? Is he nuts? The GM bank account will shrink by another $3 billion this quarter (give or take a few hundred million). That's what a sales-driven, as opposed to a brand-driven, mentality gets you; especially during a market slow down. Instead, try creating desirable products that people are willing to pay a premium for; e.g.Totyota's Prius is on backorder.

Bad example

Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. - Franklin P. Adams

In my last article, I stated that political marketing and legal cases should not be used as examplars for marketing products and services. For an elucidation of precisely why not, read these thoughts culled from a recent Newsweek.com interview with Harvard Business School professor John Quelch, author of "Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy:"

NEWSWEEK: Why do we see more negative advertising in politics than in the business context?

John Quelch: There is no Election Day deadline in business—it carries on from one day to the next. Businesses worry about growing the size of the overall market to increase sales and shareholder value. For example, Coke and Pepsi both want to increase the amount of carbonated soft drinks that we consume. If Pepsi and Coke go after each other in advertising, they will turn off consumers and reduce demand for both of their brands. Both brands know that they have to live together side by side on supermarket shelves for the long run. For politicians it is different. They don't care about the size of the market [how many people actually vote]. All they care about is winning a plurality on Election Day. So there is a greater sense of urgency for the political candidate.

Is negative advertising a desperate technique or a smart one?

It can be both desperate and smart. It is often used in desperation. Since there is a winner-take-all deadline on Election Day, a candidate trailing in polls is often tempted to pull down the opponent rather than develop a positive case for himself, which usually takes a longer period of time. The objective is to raise doubts about the opponent in minds of the electors—desperate, but often effective against an attractive but relatively unknown candidate such as [Barack] Obama.

Don't you think it's risky to start treating a political candidate as a marketable product?

When you use words like marketing and branding in connection with politics, many people see a red flag and worry about manipulation and the dumbing down of the political process. In fact, marketing is about understanding the needs and aspirations of consumers or citizens, and developing products or policy propositions in response.

Who is the best-marketed political figure?

The politician who does not need to indulge in any marketing because his actions, deeds and words speak volumes. Nelson Mandela is one such person.

George Carlin (1937-2008) - Farewell to a clear-eyed comedian

"I've always been sort of anti-authoritarian and I really don't like arbitrary rules and regulations that are essentially designed to get people in the habit of conforming.'' - George Carlin.

We'll miss you George, and your uncanny ability to accentuate the obvious and make us laugh at ourselves.