"All Shall Be Well..." Reduex

Well, I was planning to continue with Monday’s theme—but how to write about mission-based marketing and corporate giving when the bailout legislation failed to pass the House, the stock market tanked 777 points, and everybody’s talking financial crisis again? So I find myself preempting my planned post a seoncd time this month (see Sept 15 post) to write about the current drama that roils this country.

I have no intention of getting political on this blog; I wish people of all doctrines and philosophies to feel welcome here. I would like, however, to make some observations and pass on interesting reactions to Monday’s events. One thing I found fascinating was that those representatives who voted "no" did so out of fear of constituents’ reaction—that it would be “political suicide” to vote for the bill in its present state, based upon the utter avalanche of rejection and revulsion that deluged these representatives’ offices, mailboxes, phone lines, & email. Politicians actually following the expressed will of the public—how quaint and unheard of as of late! Whether that expressed will is right or wrong is another issue. What I think is interesting is that this relationship still works, that it's still possible. Granted, some of my friends and colleagues say this was the will of the vocal minority (although apparently one huge huge minority) but at least they were willing to express it. And when they did, look what happened.

I’d also like to pass on some of the best (and most humorous) comments posted by everyday people to online discussion forums & blogs from on spectrum of reputable sites (i.e. New York Times, MSNBC, Wall Street Journal, National Review). [Disclaimer: I tried to offered a balance of points-of-view but most of the witticism seems to be coming from one side.]

“If anything trumps the notion that some institutions are ‘too big to fail,’ it ought to be that some principles are too basic to be pushed aside.” —EW, Tucker, GA

“And why not: they should get something back after spending all that money on lobbists and campaign donations, right?” — Jay, Palo Alto, CA

“The only thing we learn from history, I am afraid, is that we do not learn from history.” —Earl E, The City Time Forgot

“Using BlackBerrys in Congress should be a felony.” —Uly, NJ

“Sure, if you got bad credit, you won't get a sub-prime mortgage, which is a really good idea….Credit card rates going up might cause people to stop living beyond their means, also not a bad idea.” —joe (new york), New York

“Main street is being sold out to the highest loser.” —Ela, Texas

“The public sees the bill as Uncle Sam taking money off the printing press and giving it to the guy in the top hat from Monopoly, who laughs it up with Gordon Gekko while drinking gin and tonics at the Polo match. If you're a talk radio host who wants to get callers vibrating with fury, this makes the amnesty bill look like a minor disagreement over zoning laws. I'd say liberal bloggers are particularly furious about this, but it is no longer possible to measure their anger with any human metrics. The bases of both parties loathe the bill. (I eagerly await the declaration, "In thefine print of this bill, it brings back the practice of primae noctus, which allows any Wall Street trader or corporate CEO to sleep with your daughter on her wedding night. Folks, we just can't let this kind of a bailout pass.") —Jim G

“At this point, if you are against this bill, you are for a depression” —Jon, San Francisco

“What the U.S. economy needs is a recession.” —Harry Huang, Philadelphia

“Can we really distinguish between which institution is the greatest burden on America as a nation right now???”—john, Durham, NC

“Looks like the Titanic's about to get a really expensive deck chair.” —Kevin, San Francisco

“There is no problem with the economy. Just go to any restaurant, airport, hotel, amusement park, movie theatre, etc. All packed.” —Greg-281912

“…isn't just bad loans, it is NO loans can be made if banks don't free up the capital. That won't happen because banks will find another buyer for their assets. If not our government, they'll sell elsewhere. Large portion going to those people we're dependant on for oil. Talk about having the bull by the balls.” —Ultraviolet

“In financial behavior it is referred to as herd mentality. We find an anchor to base all of our future assumptions on. Thus, when the media says that Wall Street and life in general sucks, we assume they have a point of reference. The problem is that we have permitted them to frame
the issue for us and we neglect to make critical observations for ourselves. Hence; if the media spins a yarn saying how bad things are, we react accordingly and perpetuate the problem even worse.” —enoch-372963

“Shame on us all.” —Gregg, San Francisco

“Big business and government, and for that matter religion, have always been bedfellows. The mistaken conservative Christian view that Jesus would have us take sides in political jockying is sad. His Kindgom is no part of this world.” —1Fiend

And my personal fav:

“ ‘Oh no, not the briar patch’ —Brer Paulson” —dave lyons, calif

Tomorrow, back to more thoughts on effective mission-based marketing.

Paul Newman, Mission-Based Marketing & Corporate Giving

I was very moved this past weekend after reading and watching the memorials and tributes to Paul Newman (1925-2008). I can’t tell you how many times I read or heard the word “class.” And it’s true: Paul Newman was a human being that got it right.

Among his many legacies was that of his Newman’s Own corp. and its pledge to donate 100% of its profits to charity—at the time, unprecedented for a major corporation—as well as his establishment of the Hole In The Wall Gang Camps for cancer-suffering or terminally-ill children. Here’s a Newman quote that exemplifies this life orientation: “I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”

Some further reading about his philanthropy and Newman’s Own got me thinking more about corporate giving and mission-based marketing. I worked nearly 14 years in a non-profit. And many of my good friends and colleagues still do. Often times I find the non-for-profit section humble to a fault—so humble that they won’t even promote themselves and their goals by using their own great stories, the legacies of their founders, and the impact of their customers’ (or clients’ or readers’) contributions upon the world. Do you believe in your work? Then leverage what you can. Everything you can. And do it boldly. Even Newman was hip to this: his exposed philosophy for Newman’s Own was "Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good." We need to be doing more than just telling our stories on some back page of our Website or on a brochure. Like Newman says, there’s no shame in it. Check out Newman’s Own current homepage and the wonderful video there, for starters. But there are many, many other non-Web-based ways to exploit your successes for a greater good.

Similarly, there are lessons here for the for-profit business as well. Corporate giving is more than something to be used to improve your company’s image. Even if a company can only give a small percentage, this can be another effective way to fulfill your company mission, thank your customers, and live out your brand—based on who you give to, when, and why. Businesses that are aware of and thoughtfully honor their social contracts create a win-win both for the health of their business and for the public. See the international forum Comittee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) for established standards for giving, trends, and further information or support; see also the annual Social Capitalist Awards, sponsored by Fast Company, and the Social Responsibility area of their website for more proof of this effective act of business leadership.

References: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/movies/28newman.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=Paul%20Newman%20Dies&st=cse&scp=1; http://www.newmansown.com/; http://www.givingstandard.com/index.html; and http://www.fastcompany.com/topics/social-responsibility

Fun Finds 4 Business: ThinkExist.com

It’s Friday and time again for "Fun Finds 4 Business." The other day I was looking for a quote by Calvin Coolidge. I had remembered enjoying this quote from my college days. The president had said something inspiring about perseverance, which I wanted to send to a friend who had recently started a business. Well, I looked it up and found that actually the quote was about persistence:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not;
nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not;
unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of
educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are
omnipotent.”

—Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of United States

What was enjoyable about retrieving this memory was the Website that I used to find the quote. Now I love my dusty old quotation books as much as the next person, but these days there are quick-and-easy ways online to find notable sayings and passages. Here’s one site I think is tops: http://www.thinkexist.com/. I like this site not only for its depth of entries but also for its search versatility: keywords, author, nationality, country, topic, and most popular. In addition, ThinkExist enables you to bookmark and post your own favorite quotations. It also offers a free email service of a daily quote and a nice little widget to easily post these daily sayings to your website or blog.

So the next time you need to check a quotation in a document or manuscript, or add something creative to a marketing piece or sales brochure, or put some uplifting words into a card or email to friend or coworker—don’t forget that lovely staple: the concise quote. Because bear in mind: "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." —Mother Teresa.

Know Thy Audience

Yesterday’s post on Kraft's Oreo (re: mature brands) touched something that’s on my mind today: the importance of knowing your audience and be willing to talk with them, not at them.

I just got a call from a professor-researcher who wants to have his findings published as a book and is looking for counsel. He has a message to offer and a vision for the project. The question I put before him: who’s your intended audience and how willing are you to adapt your vision for the book so that your message is received? In cases like this, a person may want to speak to the needs of an academic audience; others may seek a wider, more general audience. Both are valid choices. But a decision needs to be made. As communicators, authors, editors, producers, marketers, business leaders—and well, as people—we need to decide who we want to speak with and then be willing to do the work to meet them where they are. Think about it: you’re certainly not going to speak to people where they’re not. (Unless you shout really, really loud—and that’s exhaustive and you won’t last long.) Meeting people where they are means more than where they are physically. It means knowing where they are in mindset, in life circumstances, in needs, fears, and desires. It’s means asking and listening. It means relinquishing our assumptions, removing our prejudices, and slaughtering our sacred cows. It means bridge-building. Because it’s so easy to forget that not everybody is like us, is where we are right now, and cares about what we care about. At times I’m as guilty of this as the next person.

What it all comes down to is knowing your audience and engaging with them. The best books, websites, products, brands, etc., are conversations. Two-way streets in which both sides are enriched by the encounter (and I don’t mean just monetarily).

Getting this right is perhaps the most critical aspect of successful communication. Human nature tends to want to jump ahead; we want get right to the message-giving part. You have to connect first, then flow.

Mature Brands, Bight Ideas & One More Bite of the Ol' Oreo

Before we put the Oreo back into its case-study cupboard, let’s look a bit more at this brand. When people think of brand-building their mind often goes to examples of new ventures or product releases that hope to stake a claim in the marketplace. Branding for a mature brand—like, say, the Oreo—however, is more often about maintaining brand loyalty and a continued sense of brand excitement. The Oreo has been around since 1912. So I wondered, What is Kraft doing to stave off the dreaded image of the dusty has-been brand?

Well, they build fun around the cookie. They employ a sense of humor. They try to position the Oreo as one of the things that make your American lifestyle “the good life.” And currently they are using traditional media, the Internet, and their Oreo website to do this in three creative ways. First, they have a homemade video contest for “Best Oreo Moments”—not very original but as we’ve seen, time and again, effective. Especially when tying into YouTube. Second, they have the “Fun with the Oreo & Milk Jingle”—another contest that features not only the winning singers & photos but a kind of quasi-karaoke thing going on for you on their site. Getting better. The best? Third, they’re employing the time-tested celebrity bandwagon approach—but with a twist. Instead of just running some celebrity cookie-eating campaign, they’ve established DSRL.com, an online “channel” whose acronym stands for “Double Stuf Racing League.” It’s a sport parody in which two people race to finish off the cream on the inside one Double Stuf Oreo. The feature first launched as an ad during Super Bowl XLII with a race between QB brothers Peyton and Eli Manning. But now they’ve upped the ante with tennis’s sensational sisters Venus and Serena Williams challenging the football stars in a race for the title. The site has a fake press conference, fake news scroll of the hype, branded league clothing, fan avatars—Oh, I just can’t do it justice in a description; here’s the link: http://www.nabiscoworld.com/oreo/dsrl/home.aspx The upshot? Absurd, kitschy, attention-drawing, and totally on target with Oreo's“All-America fun” brand attribute. I give that an A for creativity.

So brand-building doesn’t have to be dull. Put on your creative thinking caps and see what ideas you can come up with to communicate your brand attributes to the marketplace.

Oreo Cookies and China’s Brand Reboot

I was reading back over posts from earlier in the month that dealt with branding and China (Sept 9 – 11) and this reminded me of the case of a venerable American company—Kraft Foods—and their foray into the Chinese market with their top brand in the Nabisco cookie line, the iconic Oreo. Their story is a great example of a crucial tenant of branding: your brand is not yours—it’s the world’s.

The Oreo has long been the best-selling cookie in America (a Kraft claim that no one seems to be disputing). It’s now also the best-selling cookie in China—but this wasn’t always so for the tasty two-toned treat. When Kraft Foods first unveiled the cookie to the Chinese in 1996 and then up to 2005, sales were less than stellar. Into the picture came a Kraft veteran, 37-year-old Shawn Warren, who had spent years marketing and promoting the Nabisco brands around the world. Warren could see that change was needed. But what? First, he listened to the marketplace seeking insight into why the Oreo wasn’t selling well, and learned that: a) the Chinese aren’t big cookie eaters to begin with; b) they thought the Oreo as we know it here in America was too sweet, and c) they found the price expensive for a quick snack. Plus, Warren also noted two related trends: that the Chinese are increasing their taste for milk in their diet and that the cookie-wafer segment of the market was the fastest-growing, lead by Kraft’s rival Nestlé SA.

So armed with this customer insight, Warren guided Kraft to make a bold strategic move: change the icon to meet the needs of the target consumer. For the first time in its history, Kraft redesigned the cookie for a foreign market. They developed and tested 20 prototypes of a new Oreo more suited to Chinese tastes and economic needs. They made a wafer-style treat that had four thin layers of the famous dark-and-light combo, was coated in chocolatem, and less sweet. The Chinese packaging was redesigned to refer to the product as a “biscuit,” not a cookie, and less wafers were included per pack, allowing the price to be lowered. Then a grassroots marketing & promotion campaign commenced to educated Chinese snackers that the Oreo is traditionally paired with milk. The company introduced an Oreo apprenticeship program at 30 Chinese universities, which drew 6,000 applicants. Three hundred of the best were trained as Oreo brand ambassadors, who went around doing things like handing out the new treat on bicycles decorated with Oreo wheels, or at Oreo-themed basketball games that reinforced the idea of "dunking" in milk. All these tactics were decided at the local level. Today the Chinese version of the Oreo is the best-selling biscuit in the country and the company is planning to expand to different regions in Asia.

My point? That while your company’s vision for its brand may not change (i.e. the company’s brand ideals & mission), your execution of your brand attributes, services to your customers, and—in particular—your products do. Your products must change—especially the successful ones, though this latter at first may seem counter-intuitive. The reason is, as company leaders and representatives of your brand, you do not determine what your brand is. The marketplace does. A brand is not a marketing slogan or an ad campaign or corporate vision statement. A brand is the sum total of all the perceptions, beliefs, associations, assumptions, and feelings about your company or line of products by your customers, the marketplace, and the public-at-large. They ultimately determined what your brand is. Thus your brand will change over time, and a company, on the other end of this on-going conversation—for that’s what it really is—should always be trying to lead the consumer to the company's ultimate vision or ideal for its brand. As a result of this back-and-forth, the world will change the way you express your brand ideal via your products and services—either because you are proactively listening and responding to the consumer or because you have passively allowed yourself to be branded out of the marketplace.

So product developers, editors, producers, and executives: don’t be afraid to make informed changes, especially to your most successful products. And remember, these sometimes down better with a little milk.

References: "Kraft Reformualtes Oreo, Scores in China" by Julie Jargon, Wall Street Journal, 5/1/08; http://www.kraft.com/MediaCenter/

Fun Finds 4 Business: Universal Document Converter

Well it’s Friday and time for Fun Finds 4 Business. Today I’d like to share my latest love in the neat-and-simple tools department: a handy little app called Universal Document Converter. How many times have you wanted to post something to the Web and been unable to convert your doc or image to a JPG? Or needed a TIFF instead of GIF? Or wanted to switch from a color file to black-&-white—or maybe to make a PDF instead of just reading one. And you couldn’t without running to a colleague for help, spending the time downloading some soon-to-expire trial version, or making yet another requisition to IT? I don’t know about you but it used to happen to me a lot. Then I found this simple, inexpensive program that will do all these conversions at the touch of a button.

Universal Document Converter can convert any document you can print (i.e. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, MS Outlook, MS Access, Adobe Reader, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox & Autodesk AutoCAD) to a color or b/w JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PDF, or PNG. And it’s not just for documents—it will also convert illustrations, charts, tables, graphs, spreadsheets, and presentations. I’m sure there are other applications out there that perform similar functions but this one is ultra-simple to use and costs only $69.00 for the first user. Here’s the site & a 1-minute video explaining how it works: http://www.print-driver.com/download/. [video bottom left]

So for those of you working in companies that, regardless or your role or department, provide a constant stream of programs to prevent any conceivable conversion problem… well, lucky you. But for the rest of us—or for your home use—this is a helpful resource worth considering.

Innovation + Quality

Yesterday’s post discussed how the principals that drive product & service development haven’t changed, but the means to affect your solution are rapidly evolving. So what’s the determining factor for succesful offerings? The marriage of innovation with quality. Quality of your concept and quality of its execution.

Quality in a business context is an elusive word: look it up on Wikipedia and you’ll find no less than nine different definitions (ex. Six Sigma; ISO 9000). Most of these definitions contain two aspects: first, there’s a measurement of something; and second, that “something” being measured is customer-determined, rendering it relative and subjective. A few definitions that I find most helpful are Noriaki Kano’s presentation of a two-dimensional model of "must-be quality" and "attractive quality,” where the former is near to Joseph M. Juran’s definition, "fitness for use," and the latter is what the customer would love, but has not yet thought about or expressed. This can also be summarized as “Products and services that meet or exceed customers' expectations." Then there’s Peter Drucker’s ascertion:"Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for." And Robert Pirsig’s succint: "The result of care."

(By the way, there’s also an interesting list of methods to measure, maintain, and increase quality. For a fun and time-tested one, check out Kaizen--Japanese for continuous improvement--which was adopted to great success by Toyota and other firms in the fifties.)

The lack of quality in most businesses these days is horrific, particularly within young industries. Too often they’re all innovation and no real substance. It’s like that famous '80s line: where’s the beef? On the other hand, mature industries like publishing tend to provide quality (in content) but lack innovative means to deliver it. I find this particularly true with religious publishers. So today’s holy grail for business is a balanced marriage of the two: quality and innovation.

The Connection Between the Connections

To continue on yesterday’s notion that for those living in the Digital Nation, any thought worth having is a thought worth digitizing.… This need to connect has great implications for businesses, particularly for those in publishing. I’m not a believer in that the book is going anywhere. Amazon’s Kindle and the like have their place in this world but the physical book is an excellent answer to a perennial human need. Nor do I believe that this drive to digital lessens the importance of the book. Actually, for those seeking to connect through the medium of Web & telecommunications, the dynamism is often found in the relationship between the physical world and the e-world. So packaging content in books is important but equally important are extensions of that content onto the Web, iPhones, etc., and the interplay between these two. For content providers today it’s not as simply as: “Here’s a book, here’s a DVD, and here’s some Web support.” The key to success is facilitating and harnessing the back-and-forth between these two and the way this conversation informs new product manifestations in the physical world and the physical world informs, pollinates, and changes offerings in the e-world.

Businesses that truly desire rich relationships with their customers are doing both. They are bringing down the barriers between these two worlds because these “barriers” are really just our own limiting mental concepts. The principals that drive product development in either world have not changed: know your customers and provide the best solution for answering their needs. It’s simply the manner and vehicles to do this that keep evolving.

Some companies that I think currently excel at this: Apple (natch), Whole Fodds Market, New York Times, ESPN, and Hulu/NBC Universal to name a few. If you have others to suggest, I’d love to hear.

The Digital Nation, Microblogs, and Their (Insatiable) Need to Connect

Want to know what’s up in a day in the life of our Digital Nation? You won’t have to look far. In between sharing photos on Facebook, updating one’s MySpace page, checking out the scene on Flickr and Bebo then adding a few social bookmarks through Del.icio.us., posting what they’re doing on their LiveJournal blog and/or sending out a handful of text messages, watching the day’s most popular YouTube vids as they add to their favorite wiki or see who they can IM at the
moment---today’s Digital Nation is microblogging.

As just about everyone ages 13 to 25 knows, microblogs are ultra short blogs, usually a line or two, in which people share about...well, just about anything. The sharing can be within private networks or public, and can be text or multimedia. Take for example Twitter, likely the largest microblogging service on the Net today. According the site’s FAQs, it’s “a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” People post in 140 characters or less. In May Twitter claimed more than 1.2 million unique members and I’m sure that total has only risen with all their recent media ink. Other popular microblogging sites are Jaiku (recently bought by Google), Identi.ca, Pownce, Plurk, Spoink, Tumblr, and the newest kid on the block, Posterous. Add to that the mega social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, all which have added microblogging features to their menu recently.

Even some of my friends and colleagues are part of this trend offering what could be considered microblogs---for example, there’s the conversation site from the market research outlet BuzzSponge, BuzzSponge.com, and religious trade publisher Loyola Press has its spiritually-based Other6.com. Strictly speaking, neither of these two sites are microblog services with regular daily posters---although I’m sure both sponsors would welcome daily postings. What they do offer the public is a chance to post a few lines of inspiration, questions, or daily musings---and then allow for comments & conversation.

So what’s the appeal? As a recent Newsweek article (8/7/08) puts it, the microblog has caught on because it “marries the mass appeal of blogging with the rat-a-tat-tat of text messaging.” Is this yet another sign of our ever-decreasing attention span? Or is it a sign that most of today’s digital content doesn’t warrant the 3-4 paragraphs of the traditional blog? My take: it's proof once again the Citizens of the Digital Nation just want to feel connected. A second of inspiration or a new perspective shared… and that’s enough. Like a gulp of an energy drink---they are not looking for a full meal; they just want a taste.

Communicate and connect. Communicate and connect. In the today’s Digital Nation, what you communicate is not as important as having communicated and feeling connected.

“All Shall Be Well, and All Shall Be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall Be Well.”

I was planning to post today on some trends affecting our digital nation, but with this morning’s news of the sale (bailout) of Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers’ Chapter 11 filing, and now the situation with AIG---all on the heels of Fannie & Freddie & the mortgage crisis/banking mess, inflation & the aftermath of voracious oil speculation, I feel compelled to take a moment to behold the landscape. ---So is this the feeling of the financial world as-we-know-it cracking and crumbling around us?

Actually, I think not. It will take much longer to bring the juggernaut that is the America mega-economy & social system to its knees---but the fault lines are there. Pope Benedict XVI last week in Paris said that the root of our problems is a “pagan” addiction to power and money that has become modern society’s “plague.” Unless the Pope used pagan to mean anything put above God/Spiritual, as opposed to the word’s more common association with cultures not Judeo-Christian, I’m unconvinced how pagan or how modern this is.

Yet the Pope asks: “Have not money, the thirst for possessions, for power and even knowledge, diverted man from his true destiny?” In light of today’s news, I have to concede that’s a good question. He is, of course, not the only major religious leader that’s asking this these days; similar statements can be heard from Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Fundamentalist and Mainline Christian, Shinto, Shaman, Neopagan leaders, and many more.

I think what we’re witnessing today are outward signs of the inward problem that we’ve disassociated from that original spirit—what America’s Founding Fathers tapped into, followed, and set this country’s systems and structures upon. A belief in goodness of humanity, trust of neighbor, responsibility for oneself and one's actions, doing the right thing for no other reason than because it’s the right thing. I am not talking about The American Spirit. There’s nothing “American” about it. It’s a human spirit. And when it all devolves into “Grab what I can get out of this system for me and my own”---that’s scary days ahead.

I don’t have any grand answers to this disassociation. Just simple a feeling: that now is the time to do exactly what logical tells us not do. Now is the time to trust when we have no reason to trust. To keep doing the right thing when everybody seems to be doing the wrong thing. To love those that don't deserve it and have faith in those who show little promise. To not let our standards slip and to guide those for whom we are responsible to do the same. To believe that it will all be ok and work as if it is ok. Because that energy, that faith, that trust and goodness is what holds back the Tide. Be it and it will grow. Leave it and it will die. It starts and ends with ourselves.

So thanks for indulging me here. And I know, I know---there are those that today will just shrug their shoulders, grab their Diet Coke, and go back to watching Gossip Girl. Ahhh. I sincerely love humanity. Especially when it’s a good time to haul out your Julian of Norwich.

References: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26677884

How Others Do It: Adidas, Nike, & Brand Battles for Real

Before we leave the Beijing Olympics for the ancient news that it is, one more thing about the branding that went on there. To continue on what turned out to be this week’s unofficial theme of brands and brand-building, I was reflecting on how two global brand-name shoe companies, Adidas and Nike, approached this enormous marketing opportunity. What did they do? —They spent untold amounts of R&D time and money developing specialty shoes to be featured at the Beijing Games. Nike unveiled 28 pairs, Adidas 27. And both companies outfitted thousands and thousands of Olympic athletes with their new designs, free of charge. Here’s the kicker: most of these shoes will never make it to the mainline consumer—many never seeing the light of day in retail stores; they will only be sold online. So if neither of these global companies expect to sell many equestrian, rowing, or wushu shoes, why all the fuss?

The focus of Adidas and Nike, similar to what I wrote in my Sept. 9th post, was not on showcasing themselves to the world---their focus was on the Chinese people. Both companies are salivating over the opening of this market, with its more than one billion pairs of feet to shoe. The key driver behind their Olympic campaigns: both companies claim inventiveness as a brand attribute. They want to use the Games—this massive attention-focusing platform—to show how inventive and comprehensive they are, with the message: We’re are number one for your feet, no matter what you do or how you play.

Given what little I know about how much it costs to design, test, produce, market, and pay the athlete endorsement contracts for all these shoes, it remains to be seen if their gamble was worth the investment. But it will be fun for us to watch the results over the next few years and see who will ends up dominating this market and wins The Battle for China’s Sole.

References: http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB121520521471229245.html

Tried a "Brand-Battle" Lately?

Speaking as we were about brands, I wanted to pass on this neat website called “Brand Tags.” I’ve already mentioned this creative Web experiment to some friends and colleagues, but I think it’s blog-worthy as well. The site allows users to “tag” a brand logo with whatever word they associate with that brand; it also allows the public to see the cumulative results. The larger the word on the results page, the more common the response. The site’s creator, who blogs about the project, reports he has more than 600 brands currently and continues adding. While poking around, I saw a few book publishers’ logos among them.

It’s unscientific raw data—not a balanced representation—but the site’s now claiming more than 1.2 million responses, and if that's true, it’s an interesting experiment.

So check it and try a “brand battle;” they’re fun and a great spin on what’s hot or not:
http://www.brandtags.net/index.php

The Second Underlying Thread: Balance

I said that in this blog I’d pass on fun finds, daily observations, effective examples of business strategy, and the like---and I will. But first I need to share the second of my two essential tools for business and my personal passions.

In Wednesday’s post I explained the name for this blog and talked about focus. Where we put our daily focus is the leading factor in determining the outcomes our projects and the destinies of our businesses, our professions, and our lives. But focus alone will not do the job to take us where we want to go. Our focus needs to be constantly checked, tempered, and adjusted; in other words, focus needs balance.

Sounds obvious—and yet so often in business I find this is overlooked. How many of us have witnessed umpteen meetings or important decisions swayed by the loudest or most charismatic, verbally-gifted or most dominant personality in the room? Swayed not because that person’s stance was the proper one, but because the person actively or passive-aggressively advocated for their point-of-view while others did not or were unable, and the key decision maker(s) did not do their job of balancing the perspective. For our decisions and our resulting focus to be balanced, issues need to be considered from many angles, significant factors need to be named and brought to the table, and that which is most flashy, sexy, loud, exciting---that which so easily draws our attention---needs to be tempered so other more passive but equally potent factors can come into play.

Balance is also crucial because over-focusing is as dangerous as under-focusing. It’s like when we build a fire: we can’t ignore it but if pile too many logs on in our desire to make it grow, it will smolder and die. Or when we’re playing gardener and, say, tending a tree: it needs to be watered, mulched, pruned, fertilized---but we can’t make it grow faster by obessessing over it, overworking, or manpuliating it. This is why we say we tend a fire or a tree. The word implies a balanced approach. And the same principals hold in business.

So what is balance, how to balance our focus properly regarding particular isses, and how other companies or people are doing this poorly or well---all this will be fodder for this blog. So if you have any good stories about balance, send them my way.

And the Website, Too.

In addition to this new blog, my website has also just launched and you can check that out at: www.Helt-Consulting.com
(Don’t forget the hyphen or you’ll end up at some Canadian guy’s site who does ??.) Also, my site’s “In Focus” section---where I’ll post publishing news and updates about my company---currently has a fun statistical fact that anyone can enjoy but should especially appeal to those who value customer research & analysis. (Or those who do customer research & analysis and have to find creative ways to explain what they do to non-numbers types.)

I welcome your feedback.

More About This Blog & Focus

Again, welcome to my new blog. As I said previously, this blog will cover interesting topics and observations about running a business, with a bent toward publishing, media, educational, communication, marketing, and nonprofit industries. I also hope to engage in the national conversation of the day, and make links between current events and business philosophy. I’ll be recommending articles, websites, blogs, books, etc., that I find cool or particularly well done, and I expect to comment on branding, advertising, and strategic business maneuvers I find interesting---sort of in the “How Others Do It” vein.

I intend to post every Monday through Friday, so please visit often.

Also, I’d like to give a little explanation about this blog’s name: First off, should you ever type the name into your browser, don’t forget to add the “.blogspot.com” or you’ll end up at a self help site. Second, I realize that WhatYouFocusOnGrows is a bit long. But it’s also memorable. And it’s the tagline for my new business. However, the main reason I choose this name is because I thoroughly believe in the truth and importance of this statement. Where we put our attention, our mind, that’s where our energy flows. That’s what we’ll be feeding in our businesses and our lives. By focusing our attention on something, we strengthen our awareness and sensitivity to it; we discern its true nature---with all its beauties, problems, benefits, and nuances. And where our energy is focused, that’s what grows. We will have a greater effect on it, and it on us.

“What you focus on grows.” It’s a good thing to remind ourselves of often.

Welcome!

Welcome to WhatYouFocusOnGrows! I guess it’s fitting that I begin this blog the day after Labor Day, as I have spent 2008 to date laboring at my newest love: starting my company, HeLT Consulting & Services, Inc. So after taking a short break to enjoy the lovely Chicago weather this past Labor Day, I’m back at it again with the launching of this blog.

My goals for the blog are modest; I don’t intend to take the blogging world by storm. Instead I’d like to establish a discipline of daily writing & reflection and a better platform than e-mail to send my clients, colleagues, and friends interesting articles and observations, and enjoy each other’s comments.

This blog will focus on market observations, interesting ideas, & fun finds for business. My guess is that it will gravitate around my passions: branding, business strategy, product conceptualization & positioning, customer research, online community, writing, business philosophy, and the key tools I use in business (and in life): focus and balance. But more on that in future posts.

For now, friends, welcome! And please let me know what you’re up to and how you spent your Labor Day weekend.