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Such a simple idea, yet full of personality. And it sure gets talked about.

Surprising. Clever. Smart. Very smart.

The latest incarnation for me has just appeared in a recent “Page Invitation” on Facebook. I was invited by a friend to become a fan of the First 20,000 Fans Get a $1,000 Best Buy Gift Card!!! page. Really? Can reasonable people actually think that something like this would actually be true? You think Best Buy would spend TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS on getting Facebook fans?

Ahhhhhh… classic! Time to party like it’s 1999 – or 1993 – or anytime on the Internet because hoaxes like these have been going around forever. I remember getting my first one via email even before there was a World Wide Web. Snopes even has a nice listing of several of the classic schemes.

So this is nothing new. But it is the first time I’ve seen this type of ploy on Facebook. Turns out it’s going strong, as this particular “fan page” has nearly 10,000 so-called fans. Ten thousand people who either actually thought this offer was real or who decided that the barrier to entry was easy and harmless enough to at least give it a shot.

And that’s the kicker.

Becoming a fan of something on Facebook seems innocuous enough. What harm can it do? Probably not much. But it does get you on a list of profiles at least. It might help people target advertising to you. It might indicate you are gullible. What else do you let people know about you through your Facebook profile? Any of that information becomes easy to get to when you join a group or become a fan of a page.

Then it’s a matter of who set up the page and why. Is it a joke or the prelude to a phishing scheme?

Facebook is just the latest breeding ground for scammers. What I see as the big difference is the inherent trust that people currently have of some communications on Facebook. It’s a community made up primarily of people you know. People you have accepted into your network voluntarily. So information coming from them should be more trustworthy, right?

Not at all.

Most people know that email can’t be trusted anymore. Even if it comes from “someone you know” most people have started to recognize the basic characteristics of strange emails. Uncle Toby usually sends questionable PowerPoint shows, not offers to save money on your mortgage. Facebook is different, though. And people don’t use the same filter on Facebook as they do for email. Not yet, anyway.

A Facebook blog post from last summer recounts that phishing and spam are at an all-time high. Please – always use your best judgement and think about what’s being presented to you as an offer online. The medium makes no difference.

Be careful out there.

Ed. Note: Barnam may not be the originator of the actual quote, but since everyone basically thinks he did, it sounded better in writing. Plus – I did say “famously” and not “actually.” See? Gotta watch what you read online…

Lindsay Lohan has sued E*Trade for $100 million, saying the “milkaholic” baby girl named Lindsay in one of their recent ads improperly invoked her “likeness, name, characterization and personality” and that Lohan has the same “single name” recognition as celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey.

If you haven’t caught this ad on TV, have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXZ2hfD3bU

“Geo” became not only a big buzzword, but also gathered some real momentum towards making that “what if” a reality with the launch of popular mobile applications like Foursquare — a location based social network that incorporates gaming elements and Sherpa — an app that constantly learns your favorite locations and starts to aggregate them.

You’ve probably heard that 2010 will be the year of mobile, and might be vaguely wondering what this geolocation fanfare is all about, and more specifically, why it might become important to pay attention to from an organizational point of view.

Well, let’s start with the fact that there is a lot of money being pumped into it. The geolocation trend is hot and investors are happily investing big bucks into location-based services like Foursquare and SCVNGR. Gowalla, Outside.in and Hot Potato. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

So it looks like 2010 is going to be the year when location-based functionality will become not just real, but commonplace — from mobile apps to consumer devices, even to web services are all going to be geo-enabled.

As of today, Twitter now lets people see  maps of where geotagged tweets were sent from on its website. They briefly turned this feature yesterday, but then shut it off again. It’s now turned on permanently.

In November 2009, Twitter enthusiastically launched a location API that let users opt-in to having their messages annotated with their exact locations. And startups like Tweetdeck and Seemic were quick to build features around the new data. But it’s taken months for Twitter to finally show geotagged tweets on its own web site.

And Facebook will add friend location information starting next month, according to a report in The New York Times. To be introduced at the F8 developer conference in April, Facebook status geolocation will enable you to share with your friends the location from where you submitted your update.

Just in time for the SXSWi hype later this week.

Altogether, U.S. advertisers and marketers plan to spend $368 billion in 2010, Outsell found — up 1.2% from about $364 billion in 2009. Within the 2010 figure, 32.5% ($119.6 billion) will go to digital, versus 30.3% ($111.5 billion) for print.

While the digital figure includes online advertising mainstays like display and search, it also includes direct marketing, represented by email, as well as investments in company Web sites, which will 53% ($63 billion) of the total digital spending.

As in previous years, print ad revenue declines will fall heaviest on newspapers — with Outsell forecasting total ad revenues of $27 billion in 2010, down about 8% from 2009. Outsell also sees revenue for print directories falling about 8% to $11.6 billion. But it’s not all bad news for print, as Outsell predicts a 2% increase in ad spending for magazines, rising to $9.4 billion.

Not every part of the digital market is buoyant. One surprising prediction in the report has mobile advertising revenues sinking 16% in 2010 compared to 2009. On the television front (combining broadcast and cable), Outsell has total TV ad revenues falling 6.5% to $59.6 billion.

So where do you fall into the picture?  If online advertising is not in your current marketing plan I would strongly suggest that you look into it.  Online advertising allows us to marry consumers with brand involvement.  And in this day and age brand involvement and engagement is key.  

With online advertising you are able to target your market much more efficiently and effectively than with many traditional advertising strategies. Online advertising also offers the benefit of providing detailed and thorough statistics that allow you to tweak and optimize your campaigns to the fullest.

With traditional advertising, there is little you can do to track the success of small changes within campaigns or one campaign as compared to another. However, with online advertising you have a huge array of information at your fingertips.

According to The Nielsen Company, the TV audience for the Winter Olympics is predominantly female, unlike the male-favored Super Bowl. Through February 21, an estimated 56% of Olympic viewers are female, while 44% are male. Super Bowl viewership earlier this month was almost the exact opposite, with its audience composed of 54% males and 46% females.

Olympics ratings are clearly highest among older viewers, finds the study. Ratings among teenagers are 57% lower than the national average for this year’s primetime Olympics broadcasts.

• Ratings among the 18-49 group are 20% lower than the national average
• Ratings among those 55 and older are 82% higher

Some additional ratings include ethnicity, geography, and equipment:

• Ratings among Hispanic and African-American viewers are each 74% below the national average
• Asian ratings are 15% below the national average
• Ratings in the West Central region of the United States area are 24% higher than the national average
• Viewership in the Southwest is 28% lower than the national average
• 55% of Olympic viewers are in HD-capable/receivable homes. Viewing in these homes is 14% higher than the national average
• 41% of Olympic viewers are in DVR homes and have ratings 12% higher than the national average

To lend context to these demographic insights, Nielsen compared U.S. viewership trends from the Olympics to trends from the Super Bowl played earlier this month.

Ratings among female Olympics viewers are 9% higher than the national average, says the report, while ratings among male Olympics viewers are 9% lower.  In contrast, female ratings were 11% lower than the Super Bowl’s national average, while male ratings were 11% higher.

Much like the Olympics, ratings for the Super Bowl were highest among older viewers. Ratings among teenagers for the Super Bowl were 20% lower than the national average (compared to the 57% lower ratings for the Olympics). Ratings for the Super Bowl improve in older demographics, where the ratings are 6% higher than the national average in the 18-49 age group and 15% higher among those 55 and up.

The comparison also found that a larger percentage of Super Bowl viewers were African-American, Hispanic, or Asian (23% compared to 11% for the Olympics). Ratings within the African-American and Hispanic markets were also higher in the Super Bowl when compared to the national average for each event. Ratings for African-American viewers were 18% lower than the national average for the Super Bowl while Hispanic ratings for the game were 49% lower. Asian ratings for both events were almost identical (16% below average for the Super Bowl vs. 15% below average for the Olympics).

Broken down by individual event, freestyle skiing, which includes men’s and women’s moguls competition, was the most popular Olympic sport among US TV weekend viewers through February 15, according to a minute-by-minute analysis of viewing conducted by Nielsen.

As reported by MarketingCharts, during NBC’s primetime broadcast coverage, an average of 26.9 million viewers watched the freestyle events in the first weekend of Olympic competition:

• Downhill skiing was the second most popular sport, with an average of 26.7 million viewers watching coverage of the event
• Luge coverage earned an average of 26.2 million viewers

However, Nielsen analysis of Internet buzz from February 9-18, 2010 shows that hockey is the most discussed Olympic sport online. Among all online messages related to winter Olympic sports, more than 30% were linked to hockey. Luge generated the second highest amount of buzz over that time, with almost 18%, followed by figure skating with 10% of Olympics sports buzz.

In the 44 films in 2009 that topped the box office for at least one weekend, an Apple logo or device could be seen in at least 18 of them. (That’s almost 41%.) In some, Apple products even eclipsed their human scene partners.

The Awl put together a great piece examining the popularity of Apple products in film. Not editors, effects specialists, composers, or photographers using Apple products, or even celebrities owning iPhones–but the insane frequency with which Apple shows up in movies, without it being official product placement.

Apple’s Greatest Cinematic Achievements from The Awl on Vimeo.

Toyota vehicles have been appearing in ABC’s hit show “Modern Family” as part of a product-placement deal struck with ABC that covers the entire 2009-2010 season.  The Toyota pact was struck well before the automaker recalled millions of its cars across several models.

The problem now is that Toyota simply can’t pull out of the deal since they are essentially part of the story line.  Usually when a crisis involving a particular marketer or product arises, common practice is to remove all commercials as soon as possible.  Toyota is now stuck.

Placing products into shows, however often requires months worth of planning.  The goods are made part of a script or storyline and are often captured as part of key scenes in an episode. Pulling a product appearance from a key scene simply is not logistically possible — and can be expensive, when it is.

Toyota’s reasons for keeping its cars in “Modern Family” are simple: After spending a lot of ad money reassuring the public, it wants to get back to selling. Hopefully the show’s strong ratings can help the automaker regain the trust of the American public.

Leichtman data measured homes with Web-TV connections via video game and Blu-ray systems, as well as compatible TVs. Add in homes that can connect with a TiVo, Roku player or computer, and the amount is estimated to come in just north of 24%.

Leichtman research shows that while 5% of adults watch Web video on the TV weekly, the figure is just 1% on a daily basis. Since game consoles are so widespread, the viewing is largely among young men. Among men ages 18 to 34, 16% are viewing Web video on the big screen weekly via a console, Blu-ray or compatible TV.

The findings come from a survey of 1,250 U.S. homes.

Research from the Yankee Group shows that 23% of homes with an HDTV set have the ability to link the Internet to that screen. Still, only 5% of all homes are watching Internet video on TV.

There have been suggestions that the opportunity to watch video from YouTube, Hulu, ESPN360, CBS Sports and a slew of other sites on a large TV screen could prompt people to cancel a cable or satellite subscription.

But Bruce Leichtman, who conducted the research, said that’s unlikely. The people with the Web-to-TV devices are likely to covet the typical run of TV channels and be willing to pay the price to keep a subscription.

A New York start-up company called Boxee is jumping into the mix.  Boxee bills its software as a simple way to access multiple Internet video and music sites, and to bring them to a large monitor or television that one might be watching from a sofa across the room.

Some of Boxee’s fans also think it is much more: a way to euthanize that costly $100-a-month cable or satellite connection.  

The software, which is free and available for download at www.boxee.tv, works on Mac and Linux computers, and on Apple’s set-top box, Apple TV. A version of Boxee for Windows PCs is being tested among a limited group of users.  Boxee gives users a single interface to access all the photos, video and music on their hard drives, along with a wide range of television shows, movies and songs from sites like Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, CNN.com and CBS.com.

The most ardent Boxee fanatics — almost all of its 200,000 early adopters seem to have turned into online evangelists for the company — then connect their computers to their living room televisions.

The challenge for the cable industry is how they grapple with the fact that this is in some way a substitution for some of the things they do.   So will this replace cable subscriptions?  I doubt it but it will certainly be interesting to see how many homes this influences in years to come.  Services like Boxee will come into the mix but will be used to supplement the entire television viewing experience. 

Face it we are a society now that demands content be accessible whenever and wherever we wish.

Woah.

The implications of this move are extremely interesting. Think about the possibilities, and what this does for Google, online content, search, and extending your online global audience.

Google will launch a service that automatically adds English subtitles to a video, if English is the language spoken in the sound track. That alone is impressive. Speech to text recognition software has been around for a long time, but for Google to have something in their pocket that they feel is good enough to add to public user videos means that they have something highly versatile. Of course, they say it will need input and scrutiny from the video owner, but that’s just a little way of asking for help in making sure they index your content correctly.

Online content wins, because previously, there was no easy and automated way for spoken words to be found in online search unless there was a video transcription. Now Google is going to attempt to do it automatically. Even if they only get it 50% correct, there’s a tremendous opportunity for them to have a handle on a significant amount of content that their competitors do not. This increases the public’s ability to find relevant information, and it also increases Google’s ability to sell contextual advertising.

Finally, when you pair what Google is already doing with offering live website text translation into different languages with auto-captioning, you have the opportunity to instantly expand one little English language video into a globally understandable piece of video content. Without doing anything more, people across the globe can find your video content via search.

Again. Woah.

Keep watching this topic. If it works, this could stir up the competitive search landscape if Bing isn’t close to doing the same thing. Another notch in organizing the world’s information indeed, Google.

What struck me almost immediately was a variation in weather patterns that had a huge effect on my mood.  When you woke up in Connecticut and it was raining – you were in for a rainy day – or two – or three – as much as a week.  In Nebraska that’s rarely the case.  There have been many days when I’ve headed into the office with full rain regalia, hunkering down for the dreary day ahead.  And quite frequently by the time I’d read my initial influx of e-mails the sun was shining high in the sky.  Other days it took as long as until lunchtime before the sun poked through the clouds and dried up all the rain.  An entire rainy day is just not all that common – not to mention a rainy week.

Then there were those cloudy and dank days in the Northeast.  No real threat of rain but no chance of sun.  We had whole weeks of that sometimes.  When that happens in Omaha, the population is totally nonplussed.  They’re just not used to it.

And when you combine this sunshine phenomenon with the fact that we are at the western most edge of the central time zone – which means we hang onto to our sunshine longer into the night – we could take the crankiest Northeasterner and turn them into a purring pussycat!  Just look at me!

When I first raised this point with my colleagues they said I was crazy.  “Omaha doesn’t have the most sunshine by a longshot” they anxiously pointed out.  That’s true.  Omaha has 60% sunshine and Hartford only 4% less at 56%.  Doesn’t seem as though it would make a huge difference – but it does.  And as far as those places that have as much as 90% sunshine like Yuma, Arizona.  I have no desire to fry an egg on my sidewalk during the month of June – Omaha is plenty hot enough for me!

These observations were inspired when I got an email from someone I don’t know asking me to become a Facebook fan of a company I’m not familiar with. Now, this is a legitimate company with a legit fan page. There are just several things wrong here.

• I got spammed
• They asked me to become a fan of theirs, after having spammed me
• I am not a fan of spam
• They tried to write informally, as if we’d met or I knew them
• They had messed up formatting and funky characters in their email, which I assume is a copy/paste problem. So they obviously don’t test their messaging on multiple email clients, computers or platforms. Note: if it doesn’t look right in Outlook on a PC, you might want to fix a couple things.

So instead of becoming a fan of theirs, I am considering a few options.

• Create an anti-fan page on Facebook. “Can this rotting banana get more fans than Company X?”
• Promote said fan page to everyone I know who may have been spammed by them as well
• Get more fans than they have (they currently have 296)
• Show them that using the tools wrong can yield undesired results online

What will most likely happen, though, is that I won’t do anything. Typing this up is enough effort.

The other undesired result of their attempt at promoting their business and trying to build their fan base, however, is that I will never become a fan of their business. I will recount this story if and when I ever hear their name. I will want nothing to do with them.

Facebook is a place (for me at least) for me to interact with people I actually know and brands/companies that I actually am a fan of. It’s more personal, and although not everyone does, I have some criteria for letting you into my little Facebook world. Had their message started out by introducing themselves, explaining why they were sending me a message, and then suggesting that I check out their site or Facebook page for more info, my reaction would have been completely different. I would have probably checked out the site. Unlikely that I’d have become a fan, but the opportunity for me to engage their services in the future would have still been an option.

If a stranger comes up to you and asks you to declare publicly that you guys are buddies, how likely are you to do so?

Yeah – me neither. Sorry, Company X – not a fan.

Let’s face it.  Anyone who knows Marie enough to be positively influenced by her is certainly aware that her son died tragically.  And they probably have a little soft spot for her.

Your continuing to run these upbeat, bordering on giddy, spots is really in poor taste (sorry for the pun – I should take my own advice).  It shows a lack of sensitivity and caring.  And what is one thing we expect from the company that Marie endorses?  What is the price of entry for the company that will help us reclaim our lives and look our best?  You said it – caring!  How can I believe that you care about me when you clearly don’t even care about Marie?

And I need to know you care about me if I’m going to trust you.

Milton Glaser accepting the award from President Obama.

I had the great fortune to meet Milton Glaser and have a 30 minute conversation with him at the AIGA National Conference in Vegas in the early 90’s (next to a roulette table) We talked about print making and and how much we loved the process; and how the multi-step process of printmaking helps us think through design execution in a more holistic manner. He was very down to earth, humble, engaging and his wisdom overwhelmed me. Some of the work that you might recognize: the iconic “I <heart> NY” – which, fascinatingly, was designed in the back of a cab after he’d already submitted his first logo to the New York State Commerce Department. He of all people is so deserving of this award.

Here is the article in full. enjoy! And do look up his work. It is pretty incredible.

“I wish my mother was alive to see this,” Milton Glaser told me about receiving the 2009 National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama last Thursday (the first time for a graphic designer). He was one of twelve to receive the honor for their outstanding achievements and support of the arts. The medals were presented by the president and Mrs. Michele Obama in an East Room ceremony at the White House.

The National Medal of Arts is a White House initiative managed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Each year, the NEA organizes and oversees the National Medal of Arts nomination process and notifies the artists of their selection to receive a medal, the nation’s highest honor for artistic excellence.

“These individuals and organizations show us how many ways art works every day. They represent the breadth and depth of American architecture, design, film, music, performance, theatre, and visual art, ” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. “This lifetime honor recognizes their exceptional contributions, and I join the President and the country in saluting them.”

See full event here on White House video. http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/president-obama-presents-medals-arts-and-humanities

In addition to Glaser the recipients include Bob Dylan, Clint Eastwood, Maya Lin, Rita Moreno, Jessye Norman, Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Frank Stella, Michael Tilson Thomas, and John Williams. Sadly Dylan could not attend, thus making the inevitable photo op between the poster maker and the poster subject impossible.

http://www.printmag.com/Article/Glaser-Gets-Award-From-Obama

Bob Dylan art poster designed by Milton Glaser.

Consumer spending drives a big part of our economic health. Retailers have long known the relationship between bad weather and purchase behavior. Obviously if people are homebound because of weather conditions, they aren’t in a store buying. I used to believe that a “snow day” in retail just meant that demand increased on the following days. If I needed a shirt on Monday and couldn’t get to the store, it made sense to me that I still needed a shirt on Tuesday. A friend of mine in retail explained to me that I was not the ideal “shopping” consumer, and, in fact, a large portion of “lost” sales due to low traffic are in reality lost forever.

In addition to physical limitations created by the weather, retailers also know that mood has a profound effect on consumer spending. Many psychologists and behavioral economists believe that it is sunlight, as opposed to temperature, that has the greatest effect on consumer mood in the winter-to-spring transition.

If you were shopping in Omaha over this past weekend, you know this to be true. It was 35 degrees and sunny on Saturday and the stores I went to were packed. I was in such a good mood that I went shopping for a new lawnmower with a foot of snow still on the ground (while the guy at Home Depot thought my timing a little odd, he must have been in a good mood too, as we had a great discussion on the finer points of lawnmower buying).

So, the politicians can debate stimulus packages all they want – come on sunshine.

Plex, Muno, Toodee, Brobee and Foofa along with DJ Lance and his magic bookbox.

Jack Black rocking out with Muno.

In its first two seasons, the show featured a wide variety of guests, including Jack Black, Dennis Horkenbach, Leslie Hall, The Shins, Andy Samberg, Biz Markie, Shiny Toy Guns, Supernova, Mark Mothersbaugh, Tony Hawk, The Roots, and series co-creator Jacobs’ band, The Aquabats. In the second season bands like Of Montreal, Mates of State, MGMT, and The Ting Tings. If you grew up in the 80’s you would have no other choice but to be a huge fan of the graphics (simplistic neon colored 8-bit video game style) and the fact that the characters live in a boombox before DJ Lance frees them, adding life to the show.

Look for it on Nick Jr., or on this very special website. Crank up the volume with your kids (or solo) and be ready to break into the robot.

http://yogabbagabba.com/#

AT&T and technology outsourcing and consulting company Accenture have already ended their sponsorships, while others, such as Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette and Swiss watch maker Tag Heuer, de-emphasized him in their marketing — a move to distance themselves from the world-famous athlete.

The CEO of Procter & Gamble said earlier this week that he doesn’t know whether Woods will ever appear in another Gillette commercial, saying the company did not need the “distraction” of using him in its advertising.

Woods does more harm than good as public sentiment against Woods is even worse now than when the scandal gained steam in December according to a new analysis by PR firm Gregory FCA.

Gregory FCA used data from Nielsen Online’s BuzzMetrics to gauge sentiment towards Woods across blogs, message boards, media sites and Twitter. The following chart may be hard to read, but the trend line is clear.

This chart reiterates what a beloved figure Woods was as attitudes toward him were almost universally positive before his downfall. Sentiment fell off the cliff after revelations of his adultery, but then started to improve as Woods stayed in hiding. After Woods delivered his public apology, sentiment turned even more sharply negative. The score of -1.2 is one of the lowest that Gregory FCA has ever seen for a celebrity, brand or company. Via Forbes Blog.

One organization saw an opportunity in all the “distraction”.  PETA, a group always on the prowl for something to get ink for their cause, tried to leverage the scandal to push their agenda by creating a billboard with a photo of Tiger and the line “TOO MUCH SEX CAN BE A BAD THING” with a message that continues “… for little tigers too. Help keep your cats (and dogs) out of trouble: Always spay or neuter!”

PETA intended to post the billboard near Woods’ Isleworth home in Windermere, Florida, but the golfer’s attorneys stepped in with a cease-and-desist order, according to PopCrunch.

Envisioning the joy that I had created in some anonymous person’s life as they are walking their dog and find $20, led me to wonder how much money is really blowing around (or I guess in the case of change, laying around) in the world.

The answer is no one really knows. The Federal Reserve’s 2009 estimates of the M0 money supply, or hard currency in the U.S. economy, is somewhere around $900 billion. Even if 1/1000th of 1% is “lost,” that’s $9,000,000. Plus the $40 I know about.

While I couldn’t find a good estimate on how much money is out there to be found, I did discover in my web search a number of active discussions about the best places to find money (even a hobbyist site dedicated to the activity), as well as a number of ethical debates on keeping versus attempting to find the owner of money that you find. This gives me hope. If you find a $20 in the vicinity of 114th & Dodge in Omaha, give me a call at Bozell.

The video which surfaced on YouTube shows the couple working out on gym equipment in their birthday suits, a video part of a “viral campaign for Reebok” who Liddell has a sponsorship deal with.

Thankfully the couples private parts are blurred out but this is still very racy.  Personally I can’t even tell that the UFC Champ is even wearing Reebok shoes so I ask myself was this gamble worth it for Reebok?

  Chuck Liddell and his girlfriend are the ones getting all of the press from this with Reebok barely mentioned.  That is unless the time comes (and it will) that organizations like the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families start to protest against Reebok and its parent company Adidas. 

This was a HUGE risk for Adidas-Reebok if you ask me. 

http://www.tmz.com/2010/02/26/chuck-liddell-naked-workout-video-reebok-shoes-girlfriend-heidi-northcott/

Colin Firth and Julianne Moore having a heart to heart.

It didn’t disappoint! Gorgeous camera angles, beautiful and honest set designs, and moments of white space. These quiet white space moments where the camera slowed down and the images became desaturated,  you had no other choice but be lost in your thoughts. Thoughts that meshed with the story line taking you to another time and place. Ford used color and saturation as a way of visualizing the emotions of the main character, played by Colin Firth. I was so absorbed by the acting and heavy sadness portrayed by Firth, that I was surprised that I didn’t notice the color shifts until a quarter of the way through the movie. In fact there are so many nuances and subtleties to this film that do not reveal themselves until thinking on it hours after the fact. This is probably one of the reasons why the majority of people I know have seen the movie more than once.

Julianne Moore in all her loveliness.

This is where I will end. I won’t share what the story is about, because I think it is better to see this movie not knowing much about it. Just knowing that A Single Man is a perfectly art directed, beautifully quiet, visually brilliant movie.

What I’m having a problem with is the number of sites and resources out there that seem to do little else than grab a bunch of links to various things and then publish that as content.

At first, it’s fun. Ten New Ways to Display Form Fields. Twenty Fresh Web Designs that Work on the iPhone. Forty Marketing Strategies that Attract Young People. Sixty Hot Trends in Clicking on Things.

So what?

Anyone can go out there and find options. I don’t care too much about options. I care about solutions. Don’t tell me the ten ways for doing something and leave it at that. Add some value to it. Tell me about the ten ways, how they are different, and in what circumstance each option might be the best choice. Give me a reason to care about all of these options you are giving me. I want these sites I read and people I follow on Twitter to be editors for me, not just aggregators of every other thing they find on a topic out there.

When you think about this, it makes it clear who has good information and who just appears to have good information. Use your knowledge and expertise to make decisions and select great options for yourself and your clients. If you’re giving people options, clearly explain why there are choices to make, what the differences are between then, and potential trade-offs. Also, offer your rationale for selecting one. This shows you’re paying attention, have expertise to offer, and have done some work.

Without an informed opinion, you’re the Yellow Pages, not a personal recommendation.

The fact is, we all make mistakes. So do brands. And we all learn the hard way that people never listen more closely than when you admit failure. While there are lots of examples, recently we’ve seen two big brands own up to problems and mistakes and publicly apologize. In very different ways.

Friday Tiger Woods’ abject, and very rehearsed, press conference/public apology came off as as a bit insincere to me. It sounded painfully scripted and the fact that he took no questions from the eager reporters who have been specially selected to see him speak made it feel even more stilted. I read a snarky comment somewhere that the same George W. Bush media advisers who gave us Mission Accomplished were hired by Tiger to present the world with Emission Regretted.

Watch full press conference here.

If you’re thinking Tiger is just a man, not a brand, read the transcript of Tiger’s apology and you’ll note he details the specific consequences of his actions: “I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife’s family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me.” In case you’re wondering, that last one is code for brand.

As Sally Hogshead said: … the Woods brand “was founded upon prestige, mystique,” she added, “and an aura of elusive untouchability,” but now “we all suddenly know more about his bottom-feeding behavior than we ever cared to.”

And then there’s Toyota. Toyotas have long been considered among the most reliable cars on the road. But it has had major problems the last couple months and its failure to stem its widening safety crisis has stunned consumers and experts who’d come to expect only streamlined efficiency from a company at the pinnacle of the global auto industry. It is now trying to rebuild consumer confidence after a recall that has extended to millions of cars around the world and tarnished the company’s reputation.

First came the apology.

Then the promise to fix it.

Can these brands survive the withering publicity? Will we forgive? Will we trust them again? After all, Toyota has made great cars and until recently was the most popular car brand on Earth. And Tiger Woods is a phenomenal golfer. Only time will tell. But in my humble opinion Toyota seems more sincere in their efforts to earn back our trust.

The Olympics averaged a 5.4 rating in the 18-49 demo on Tuesday, while Idol generated a 9.1.   Tuesday’s airing of American Idol, which unveiled Ellen DeGeneres as a judge, pulled the biggest numbers for a non-finale, non-debut in two years.

But on Wednesday night, the Olympics brought the heat to the singing competition. During the hour that the two shows competed against each other, the Olympics pulled 30.1 million people, while American Idol was seen by 18.4 million. 

I myself am all about the Olympics so I say God Bless the U.S.A!

Aside from the fact that  the media can’t seem to get enough of another corporation caught short by the outraged tweeting masses, this should be yet another wake up call of the speed by which screw ups travel and escalate today.

As an instant viral publishing tool, Twitter is often the first place we hear a rumble of something big — where news (or rumors) break — so it’s followed closely followed by the mainstream media that then “vets” the info. This summer I was in a store in Tahoe when someone in the store read a tweet that Michael Jackson had died. We all headed for a TV or went to CNN on our phones to verify the info. Not everything trending on Twitter is accurate — remember Goldblum?

Bad personal experiences for people we like at the hands of corporations is David and Goliath stuff. And we consumers love those stories. We love to rant about injustice. We can’t get enough of it.

Twitter is the early warning siren and reaches well beyond those actively engaged on Twitter — it is closely followed by the media and bloggers and it can explode the customer complaint horror stories many times faster than what companies previously suffered just at the hands of a few irate bloggers (remember Dell, Kryptonite) to potentially devastating effect.

Southwest is a company that has been active and strong in the social space. They’ve handled difficult situations well.  But they’re not immune. They just found out what happens when you piss off a guy with a rabid fanbase and a Twitter account with 1.6M followers. Smith has a nimble intellect and savage wit and his tweets and SModcasts are entertaining.  One of his tweets had me laughing out loud:  “You [messed] with the wrong sedentary processed-foods eater!” But chances are Southwest didn’t enjoy this exchange as much as the rest of us.

If the arbitrary nature of this online customer movement seems unfair, too bad.  Get used to it. The genie is not going back in the bottle.

How companies succeed in the future will depend on how they embrace and navigate this new socially-empowered customer culture. The answers don’t lie in merely having a company Twitter account. And they definitely can’t be solved purely through social media monitoring. These are just tools. Tools that let you listen. And respond. The key is what a company learns from the listening, how it applies those learnings and then how it communicates those learnings to its customers that will rescue its reputation and make it a stronger company.

For Smith, the publicity may be a windfall given his new movie “Cop Out,” opens in theaters Feb. 26.

Despite some expectations that NBC would pull low ratings for the Olympic Games – NBC has pulled an average of 28.6 million viewers each night for the first three nights – 25% higher than the 22.9 million who watched Turin games in 2006.

Also sadly boosting viewership was the tragedy of Georgian luge racer Nodar Kumaritashvili.  NBC aired the footage from the crash once during the Nightly News and again before the start of the Opening Ceremony. 

Did you know that marketers are now going as far as to actually create Television shows just so they can feature/”pimp” their products.  Marketers will do anything to stay one step ahead in this increasingly competitive environment, but at what cost?

Two major marketers, Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble are joining to create a made-for-TV movie called Secrets of the Mountain which will air on NBC this April targeting families.  The film will include product placements for both marketers, and ads for the companies will run during commercial breaks.  Wal-Mart will be the “presenting sponsor” paying P&G for the rights to that title – as part of its broader “Wal-Mart’s Family Moments” effort.

The program features a single mother and her three children who spend time at a cabin in the mountains. They use P&G’s Duracell batteries in their flashlights, feed their dog P&G’s Iams pet food, and eat cereal from Wal- Mart’s Great Value private-label brand.

I am envisioning this scene now and it makes me want to throw up a little.  Next thing you know, there will be a story line with little Sarah getting her first menstrual period with her mother by her side encouraging her to use P&G’s Tampax Tampons.

Ok, maybe I’m a little too tough on this new method of marketing, but I would like to at least try and protect the quality of my programming to a degree.

The week-long virtual strike, organized by ACC Belgium, or the Association of Communication Companies, is being held by advertising agencies such as JWT, Ogilvy, BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann, and local shops such as Happiness, Famous, Tagora, Boondoogle, 7beaufort and Kunstmaan which have closed their own websites to host an open letter to clients which runs across the front page of each of their websites, from one agency to the next.

The strike is about abuse of the pitching process. Apparently back in the 1990s agencies and clients got together to form a charter that set the ground rules for pitches, ranging from an acceptable number of agencies in a pitch (no more than three) to contributing to agencies’ pitch costs. And surprise, many advertisers in Belgium have stopped following the industry charter hence the manifesto on the websites.

I read one comment about a shop asked to pitch for an A4 brochure project…against 15 other agencies. Just say NO.

Interesting and dramatic move. It will be even more interesting to see if it accomplishes anything.

This past Sunday, Super Bowl XLIV managed to break all records and surpass M*A*S*H* as the most watched television show in history.  Viewership for the Super Bowl came in at 106.5 million, up from 98.7 million viewers last year.  The series finale of  M*A*S*H* previously held this title since 1983 bringing in 105.97 million viewers.

Sunday’s Super Bowl also had the most ad time in history. At 47 minutes and 50 seconds of ads, it beat last year’s Super Bowl ad tally of 44:50. Forty-one companies advertised, buying a total of 66 spots (excluding ads aired by the NFL and by CBS).

Anheuser-Busch was once again the top advertiser, with nine spots, followed by Hyundai with four. Dot-coms held the top ad category, with 5:45 seconds of ad time from eight different companies. Automakers and beer companies were the next top advertising category, tying at 5:30.

CBS acknowledged that it was attempting to get more inventory out of the game in part because of an influx of late advertising inquiries. One way it did this was by selling a number of :15 spots. The game included seven such spots, compared to none in the Super Bowl last year.

Two of the best-rated individual TV markets were the markets of the two teams in the game:  New Orleans and Indianapolis.  New Orleans earned top market share overall with Indianapolis coming in fourth place.  Washington, D. C came in second and Nashville was in third place.  Nielsen says a major winter storm in D. C. kept viewers in their homes, which pushed up viewership.

And then there are the companies that send me two or three of the same piece – at the same time!  Again, I’m sharp enough realize it is caused more by your lack of ability to execute efficiently than by my enormous importance to your company.  So again – I’m underwhelmed.

I don’t get a huge amount of snail mail these days.  So much comes through e-mail it’s not all that surprising.  And the shear expense of snail mail when executed inefficiently is mind boggling.  But I can say with some authority that conservatively 50% of what I see is going to the wrong person or is inaccurate in some other way.  It’s your money guys!

Getting it right is not all that difficult.  It’s all in how you manage your database.  My advice to those of you who haven’t cleaned your list for 10 years and counting is don’t waste your money.  You’re hurting your brand with every batch of mail that you drop.

When I read the announcement here and here, my first thought was, big deal, how is this different from what anyone (not just Verizon customers) can do with Cellfire?  Giving them the benefit of the doubt that maybe there was something unique in the announcement, I went to check out the Verizon website promoted in its news release…and then I laughed! Hard.

I land on the Verizon site and what do I see? My Cellfire account that I registered with my Sprint number after my previous coupon guilt trip.

Verizon page (that I didn't log into) at top. My Cellfire account at the bottom. Hummmmmmm

I AM a Cellfire user, but I’m NOT a Verizon customer, I’m a Sprint customer.

So Verizon…can you hear me now? I’m still chuckling.

Super Bowl XLIV will be only broadcast digitally – a first.  CBS has reached its goal of selling out the commercial inventory.  Advertisers caught a break this year and paid $2.5 million to $2.8 million per commercial for one 30-second in-game spot compared to a year ago, when NBC sold 30-second spots for around $3 million each.

This year’s ad roster includes Hyundai, Audi, Honda Motor, Chrysler’s Dodge, E-Trade, Go Daddy, Dr Pepper, Coca-Cola, Cars.com, CareerBuilder, Doritos, Bridgestone and Anheuser Busch. Looks like automakers are making a comeback.

New advertisers include Boost Mobile, vacation rental service HomeAway, the U.S. Census Bureau and Christian group Focus on the Family, which is airing a controversial pro-life spot that has drawn protests.

Veteran Super Bowl advertisers not participating this year include:  Fedex, General Motors and PepsiCo’s Pepsi.  In lieu of running in the Super Bowl, Pepsi launched its Pepsi refresh project. At the Pepsi Refresh website you can submit ideas to help and make a positive impact. The ideas with the most votes get cash grants from Pepsi.

Rumored but not “officially” on the committed list is Motorola. Rumors of Motorola advertising during Super Bowl appeared end of 2009. But it’s been very secretive about any Super Bowl 2010 ad plans. Now Motorola has set up a teaser site for their commercial and it features a bath tub.  The preview merely shows a stylish bathroom with a bath tub filled with bubbles. We will see what can happen when the power of Motoblur is unleashed.

In the last few years, many companies have used a strategy of “leaking” Super Bowl ads on the web to create buzz before they actually air.  I had a chance recently to preview some of these ads.

• New player HomeAway brings back Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as Clark and Ellen Griswold from the 80s movie National Lampoon’s Vacation.  The company is publishing a 15-minute mini movie on their site right after the Super Bowl commercial airs. Many Super Bowl viewers will miss 15 minutes of the game as the HomeAway Hotel Hell Mini Movie promises to be very funny.
• The Denny’s Super Bowl 2010 commercial is set to be funny again. A new advocate who invites viewers to enjoy a Free Original Grand Slam while warning chickens to get out of town because “it’s going to be a tough week for egg layers.”
• The “Punch Dub” VW ad is based on the classic game that kids used to play back in the original Beetle’s heyday called “Punch Buggy” (or “Slug Bug”), where the first person to see a Beetle would yell, “Punch Bug” and playfully slug his or her friend. Volkswagen also “found” the creator of the original game, Charlie “Sluggy” Patterson. This is my favorite ad so far.
• Audi leads up to their Super Bowl 2010 ad with funny Green Police spots.
• Diamond Foods will be running a whacky Super Bowl commercial for its Pop Secret popcorn and Emerald Nuts.
• Bridgestone is back at the Super Bowl with two new commercials. The first Bridgestone Super Bowl commercial dubbed “Whale of a Tale” has three guys and a giant Orca whale on a truck. Apparently the guys try to save the whale, but what really happens in the commercial is not revealed yet.
• The centerpiece of the Boost Mobile ad is an off-beat re-creation of the 1985 music video using most of the players, the editing techniques and the same look as the iconic original. Legendary coach Mike Ditka also makes a special cameo appearance in the spot.
• kgb agent ads leading up to the kgb Super Bowl ad features two Baldwin brothers.
• Dove Men+Care features one man’s journey of unsung moments from birth to fatherhood in a montage of scenes set to the ‘William Tell Overture’.

As a viewer looks at the system screen, the built-in camera technology analyzes data such as gender and age, audience composition, time-of-day and other criteria, which enable the system to display tailored content and graphics based on estimated demographics. The system anonymously sends audience information to advertisers who can use that information to understand the type of content and messages that are most popular with viewers. This, in turn, helps advertisers target their advertising to maximize the impact on the audience.

Innovations like Intel’s prototype (pictured above) and NEC’s plans as reported in WSJ today, will change the way people interact with digital signage technology in environments such as stores, airports, banks and hotels.

In the Intel demonstration, multiple consumers can use this side-by-side window display simultaneously to explore augmented reality-enabled maps of each floor of the store, on which retailers can superimpose images such as coupons and sales promotions next to the product visualizations on the glass, improving the customer’s shopping experience. They can send coupons to their phones and more.

These innovations in digital signage concept bring a new opportunity for advertisers to smart target messages through the use of anonymous video analytics. Consumers, especially those with growing privacy concerns relative to data collection and behavioral targeting, may object to getting their faces scanned without their knowledge. However, both Intel and NEC stress the concept of anonymous data points and modeling.

“The program tracks a person’s age and gender and throws out the footage, keeping only the macro data, he said, adding that no individuals are singled out.” Mr. Yamamoto in WSJ story.

Punxsutawney Polamalu. Odd.

I just hope Punxsutawney Phil doesn’t see his shadow today.

Some believe CBS has gone too far to the political right in determining what can or can not air, while others dismiss much of the controversy as merely viral stunts that have become part and parcel of the carnival.

First it was Tebow, then ManCrunch and then GoDaddy.

The first religious-political ad CBS has approved to air in the entire history of the Super Bowl hails from the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family and is a pro-life spot featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother. Some women’s groups are pressuring CBS to scrap the ad.

A ManCrunch spot for the dating site catering to gay men has been officially nixed by CBS.  In the commercial, two football fans are watching a game when their hands touch in a bowl of chips. Making out then ensues.

GoDaddy, which has a history of banned spots, like the 2005 wardrobe malfunction, got another rejection this year. The banned GoDaddy ad features a retired football player, “Lola”, a big, flamboyant, effeminate, lovable man, who embarks on a successful career as a lingerie designer.

Considering they lifted a ban on so-called controversial ads in order to let in the advocacy spot with Tebow, CBS is likely to take a lot of heat from multiple groups for decisions that are perceived by some as homophobic. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation organization, GLAAD, is speaking out against CBS’s decision to deny running the ManCrunch ad.

Here’s the 2010 SuperBowl commercial lineup.

UPDATE: 6pm Monday — another day another banned spot. KGB said “This ad is in keeping with the provocative, edgy ads KGB has made since we introduced the KGB text product last year,” it tested strong and was the logical choice.  Others pundits say it’s a stunt for attention knowing that  the “head-up-the-ass”  would not clear the censors.  You be the judge.

Great infographic in Mashable thanks to social media analytics firm Viralheat.

When consumers click on the icon they will be taken to a page explaining how the advertiser uses their Web surfing history and demographic profile to send them certain ads.

Consumers should  start seeing this icon along with phrases like “Why did I get this ad?” by midsummer.

With data collection and integration becoming ever more sophisticated, the industry has been under increased scrutiny about data acquisition models and the impact on consumer privacy. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) threatened to step in if the industry failed to self-regulate, and several trade groups are now working on third-party systems that will help regulate behaviorally targeted ads. The new informational icon is one step toward industry transparency.

“Jules Polonetsky, the co-chairman and director of the Future of Privacy Forum, an advocacy group that helped create the symbol, compared it to the triangle made up of three arrows that tells consumers that something is recyclable.”  From NYTimes.com

Spotted on TechCrunch.

I’ll admit, I was shocked (and I’m not alone) about the price point. Starting at $499 for the base 16GB unit is about $200 less than I expected. The 32GB will run $599, and $699 for the 64GB. Adding 3G costs a $130 per model, so the most expensive model (64GB / 3G) is $829. The WiFi-only model will ship in 60 days, and the 3G models will come in 90 days.

There was so much speculation the last few months about an Apple tablet and the anticipated features (most of which were right).  And in the last few days factual nuggets leaked like those from McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw.

So now it’s official.  The iPad is born.

And the name calling jokes have begun.  These tweets gave me a chuckle:

@twifftwin: the iPad sounds like a feminine hygiene product for robot ladies.

@KristinaWeise: The #iPad – too easy to insert a woman’s comment here. “Much more intimate than a laptop and more capable than a smart phone,” Jobs said.

We may get a laugh now from the name puns, but my bets are on Apple for the last laugh.  Combine a surprisingly low launch price with Apple’s marketing savvy…

Look out Kindle.

Oh…and BTW Apple is using the ePub format for iBooks.  That could change the game in that category. See previous post.

Trillium Absinthe is one of the first legally produced absinthes in the United States. Its from Integrity Spirits in Portland Oregon and the bottle was designed by ID Branding.

Package design may not have played a direct role in my purchase decision this time because I ordered Trillium online after a specific search. But, had I seen this package at retail, it would have caught my attention and pulled me in.

And with the ever increasing number of choices we have, that’s critically important.

Recently while shopping at Brix, a local spirits store with nearly 1000 wines, 800 international and domestic beers and a 100 single-malt Scotches (my personal favorite), it became clear just how important great design is when faced with a sea of possible options.  Especially for a consumer who may not have detailed or intimate product knowledge.

Inevitably I spent more time looking at and considering products when package design caught my attention.  And in the case of the beer my husband and I purchased, it was the packaging that clinched our choice, because we knew absolutely nothing about beer options from the Czech Republic and didn’t have the patience nor inclination to talk to the store’s beer expert.

What I didn’t see on the Trillium label until I looked closer was the alcohol content.  No wonder Van Gogh and Hemingway were so inspired and creative.

Apple issued invitations for a media event scheduled for 10:00 AM Pacific Time on January 27th. The event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, and the invitation’s tag line reads “Come see our latest creation.”

All the info, rumors and speculation about the “supposed” tablet has been coming from companies and partners that Apple reached out to as part of this project.

I know I’m curious and will tune in Wednesday.  Steve Jobs is a master presenter, so I’m sure it will be a good show.  PC World will live blog from the event.

I’ve been following the pay wall discussions for months (see previous post) and still have the same question: Will consumers pay for news — in big enough numbers that it will offset the decrease in traffic that pay walls will create? Obviously, the declining revenue situation for newspapers is not getting any better.  In Q3 2009 The New York Times posted a loss of $35.6 million, as revenue fell nearly 17% from the same period a year ago. So something has to change. There’s certainly little chance print subscriptions will increase given changing consumer media behaviors. And the advertising venues and options continue to proliferate online. But I believe website pay walls, as currently positioned, are very risky bets. And seem like a backwards move. A push in forward-thinking and innovations in information delivery and customization seems less risky and a better potential source of long-term revenue.

For The New York Times the bet is especially big, because it not only runs the risk of TimesSelect 2 (the abandoned payment approach in 2007), it risks losing its mojo as top digital (non-aggregator) news site and could retard its digital ad potential if it fails. If readers run into pay walls and quickly move on to still-free (and top-notch) sources like the BBC, Reuters, NBC, NPR and many more — then the model could fall apart. And, The Times, as the leader in advertising revenue with more than 17 million readers a month in the United States, it has a lot lose if the move backfires.

There was one line in the release yesterday that intrigued me and provided a signal of some forward thinking. “NYTimes.com will be building a new online infrastructure designed to provide consumers with a frictionless experience across multiple platforms.” The concept of a frictionless experience is very appealing and could be a major move, IF The Times can pull it off well and quickly. In the age of ubiquitous smart-phones, Kindles, the long awaited Apple tablet, and eventually the Internet-mediated livingroom TV monitor, readers are already coming to expect easy, and smart, access to the their content wherever, whenever. They also will come to expect the stories they save on one device to be known by another; ditto email sharing lists, stock portfolios, favorite sports team preferences.

If The Times can provide such synchronicity, then readers who are asked to pay may accept the charge as, in part, an access charge — like their wireless access charge. And that perception change could change the game.

Poster image from the show.

Saturday, we visited the Durham Museum in Omaha Nebraska to see the American Letterpress-The Art of Hatch Show Print, which is in its final week.

The posters have a wonderfully organic nature to them since each one is hand pulled and therefore has variances within a series. They like to call them monoprints for that reason.

The earlier posters were simple but so impactful and memorable…the overlapping triplicate image of Johnny Cash is one of Hatch’s signature prints.

Layered effect created from multiple runs in the press.

I was most drawn to the newest posters in their entire series, where they took old pieces and parts of plates and wooden type, and repurposed them into new, multi-layered posters. They have thousands of wood and lead type in their archives and feel that “Preservation through Production” is what is going to keep the art of the letterpress alive and well.

Check OUT all the wood type! HEAVEN!!!

Even though the wood type was used many years ago, the way Hatch reuses them, and breaks them into many layer, colors and forms, feels very modern in its new translation.

The first thing I did when I heard about the Haiti disaster was search for a quick way to help. I found the American Red Cross mobile information on my first search and within seconds I made a donation via my cell phone.

You can donate $10 to Haiti relief by texting “Haiti” to 90999

Online and mobile giving is quickly becoming the growth engine for non-profits.  And for good reason. Using the latest technology, non-profits are able to reach out quickly to wider audiences and solicit smaller donation. Technology advancements now enable non-profits to efficiently and effectively reach donors they’ve not been able to connect with before. Online giving continues to grow and now accounts for 5% of total giving, 16% of new donors and 27% of new revenue.

In mid 2008, the Mobile Giving Foundation was formed to open the mobile donation process to a wide range of qualified 501c3 non-profits. Through deals with the major cell phone carriers, a $5 or $10 donation is added to a phone bill when someone pledges by using a special short via an SMS (text) message. The money is collected by the carriers then passed on to the non-profit.

It’s simple. And mobile phones are ubiquitous. Text-based fundraising is all about immediacy. You don’t need to wait until you get home and turn on the computer. It’s all so quick and convenient, you can give in the moment. There’s no chance of you forgetting to do it later. So mobile giving has rapidly taken off. It’s growing faster than online giving and more and more non-profits are adding a mobile giving option.

Reports I found estimated that over $2 million was raised via mobile in 2009. In the first 14 days of 2010 we’ve already surpassed that level. And that’s just from the money raised by the American Red Cross.  There are several other companies that have mobilized giving as a result of the earthquake in Haiti. And the mobile giving information has gone viral as people tweet and post on Facebook and encourage their friends to help those affected by the earthquake.

Read more about the The Changing and Challenging Nature of Fundraising in the story I wrote for our November 2009  Thinking newsletter.

In addition to mobile giving, people who want to help those affected by the Haitian earthquake can also make a donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund at Redcross.org or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. Plus you can donate up to $200 to the Red Cross via iTunes: http://bit.ly/84kljT Check out 20 ways to help Haiti.

1/18/2010 UPDATE:  Americans have pledged more than $21 million to the American Red Cross for Haitian relief efforts via text messages on their cell phones as of Monday according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy — an unprecedented amount for mobile donations.  In contrast, it raised $200,000 from texts during the 2008 hurricane season.

Six days after the massive earthquake struck, donors have contributed more than $210-million total to major U.S. relief groups, a Chronicle tally finds.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as mobile phone technology have made it easier for charities like the American Red Cross  to raise these needed funds.

(via brooklynmutt)

I want one.

This was pretty.  At first.

Then it got serious.

Same table now buried.

My kids did snow diving off the deck into the massive drifts.

This blows.

Something’s wrong when the buzz around town is about the roof rake.

OK that last one is actually from the 1949 blizzard, but this is what I feel like.  Like it will never end and there’s no way out.

When it’s warmer in Moscow and Antarctica, something is out of kilter big time.  It’s like we blew right by global warming and straight into the next Ice Age.

I’d like to wear real shoes again instead of boots and a coat that doesn’t make me look like the abominable snowman. And not have to deal with a whiteout while driving home from work.  And I’m so over the giddiness of the weathermen who revel in talking about a forecast that includes words like “25 below wind chill”.

I get through each day of this deep freeze by telling myself over and over again that it’s one day closer to spring.  Bring on the sun!

Peeps…a cultural phenomena. It’s hard to believe they were introduced half a century ago. I totally remember looking forward to them every year in my Easter basket. The lovely sugar-coated gooey goodness. Even though you had to open the entire pack of 12 to get 1 out, and the others solidified in a matter of hours, we loved our Peeps. AND we loved messing with them. We nuked them in the microwave, we put them through torturous “science experiments,” and we glued them in ways that any avant garde artist would bite his hand in envy…

Just Born, maker of the chick- and bunny-shaped marshmallow Easter favorites, is officially opening the first store devoted to Peeps last month. The shop, located in a mall near Washington, D.C., sells over 800 Peeps products, including plush toys, china, and even a fancy hand-blown glass Peep.

First Peeps store in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

http://www.peepresearch.org

Given the current financial crisis, it’s not surprising to see sentiment like this in a survey. In fact, some people believe this decade will come to be compared to the likes of the 1920s. Call me an optimist, but when I really look at the first 10 years of the 21st century, and think about it in comparison to other significant decades, like the 60s, I’m more inclined to believe it’s been one of those defining times that will prove to be transformative.

So much has happened it’s almost biblical in its bookending events. The televised tragedy of 9/11 and the election of America’s first black president—a man whose name meant nothing to anyone outside of politics until just a few years before his ascension to the most powerful office in the world.

In the last 10 years, we’ve certainly seen the good, the bad and more than our share of the ugly.  But as Einstein proposed in his three rules of work: Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Difficulty can and does spark extraordinary ideas.  Here’s to an extraordinary future.  Cheers and Happy New Year!

I know some of you are laughing right now.  How can you possibly get anything done with multiple decision makers?  It is unquestionably challenging – especially on some days.  But our decisions are never knee-jerk – a common affliction of the independent agency ruled by one sovereign (and often highly emotive) leader.  And frankly the hierarchically structured public agencies are no better.

Our structure ensures a multi-dimensional view of any major issue and leads us to solutions that are often inspired and sometimes quite surprising.  We challenge and support each other every step of the way.  We force each other to think in ways we normally wouldn’t.   It gets bloody, but as brilliant as I’m sure I am – my partners constantly blow me away with their impressive thinking

Let’s face it, as a group agencies tend to attract more emotive and expressive souls than many industries.  Yet we need our leaders to make the cool rational decisions that are so critical to our very survival these days.  How’s that gonna work?  You do the math.  The days of the maverick celebrity agency head superstars are over.

But when you take three or four talented and intelligent albeit emotive individuals with some hefty – and equal – skin in the game, an enormous diversity of experience and knowledge and focus them on growing a business that instills pride – what ensues is likely to be inspiring.  It will never be boring.

As a Bozell intern, you won’t get the creative director coffee. You won’t pick up the account director’s dry cleaning. And you won’t shine the president’s shoes. You won’t have time. You’ll be too busy working on actual projects for actual clients. You’ll be building your résumé and portfolio. You’ll be beginning your fledgling career.

The internship starts May 17 and ends August 6. You’ll earn $8.50 an hour and work full-time from 8:30 to 5:00 Monday through Friday. Expect some weekend work, too. This is advertising.

During the first week, you’ll meet your fellow interns and spend quality time with our department heads. After that, it’s nothing but work. And the occasional game of Guitar Hero. Candidates must be Junior standing or above. Applications must be postmarked by March 1. The top candidates in each department will be invited to interview later in the month. We’ll make final decisions and notifications by April 16. Apply here.

If you have any questions on out intern program, please feel free to contact Will Flavell at (402) 965-4360.

Check out this video to hear from some of our past interns:

Bozell Intern Experience Video

I read a great article on the Harvard Business Journal Blog this morning. It consists of their top six predictions for changes in social media in 2010. As you might expect, they see three major trends: rapid expansion, standardized adoption by companies and more niche focus.

So here are their predictions (I am especially interested in #3 and the recent Facebook changes will affect corporate giveaways on that network).

1. Social media begins to look less social
With groups, lists and niche networks becoming more popular, networks could begin to feel more “exclusive.” Not everyone can fit on someone’s newly created Twitter list and as networks begin to fill with noise, it’s likely that user behavior such as “hiding” the hyperactive updaters that appear in your Facebook news feed may become more common. Perhaps it’s not actually less social, but it might seem that way as we all come to terms with getting value out of our networks — while filtering out the clutter.

2. Corporations look to scale
There are relatively few big companies that have scaled social initiatives beyond one-off marketing or communications initiatives. Best Buy’s Twelpforce leverages hundreds of employees who provide customer support on Twitter. The employees are managed through a custom built system that keeps track of who participates. This is a sign of things to come over the next year as more companies look to uncover cost savings or serve customers more effectively through leveraging social technology.

3. Social business becomes serious play
Relatively new networks such as Foursquare are touted for the focus on making networked activity local and mobile. However, it also has a game-like quality to it which brings out the competitor in the user. Participants are incentivized and rewarded through higher participation levels. And push technology is there to remind you that your friends are one step away from stealing your coveted “mayorship.” As businesses look to incentivize activity within their internal or external networks, they may include carrots that encourage a bit of friendly competition.

4. Your company will have a social media policy (and it might actually be enforced)
If the company you work for doesn’t already have a social media policy in place with specific rules of engagement across multiple networks, it just might in the next year. From how to conduct yourself as an employee to what’s considered competition, it’s likely that you’ll see something formalized about how the company views social media and your participation in it.

5. Mobile becomes a social media lifeline
With approximately 70 percent of organizations banning social networks and, simultaneously, sales of smartphones on the rise, it’s likely that employees will seek to feed their social media addictions on their mobile devices. What used to be cigarette breaks could turn into “social media breaks” as long as there is a clear signal and IT isn’t looking. As a result, we may see more and/or better mobile versions of our favorite social drug of choice.

6. Sharing no longer means e-mail
The New York Times iPhone application recently added sharing functionality which allows a user to easily broadcast an article across networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Many websites already support this functionality, but it’s likely that we will see an increase in user behavior as it becomes more mainstream for people to share with networks what they used to do with e-mail lists. And content providers will be all too happy to help them distribute any way they choose.

So what’s your take? I am interested in increasingly niche communities. That will mean more access to real shareholders (and less spam Twitter messages).

Best,

Will

Apple (and Steve Jobs) is the poster child for bold. It seems everywhere you turn today you encounter another story of triumph for Apple, a company that has certainly faced its share of difficulty.

Via Flickr - Illustration: Tsevis Visual Design

Think about this — back in 1997 when Jobs went back to Apple, it was an underdog. A mere 6 months from bankruptcy when it moved forward to boldly position itself as the “Think Different” company. In 2000 Apple missed its financial targets, sending its stock price plummeting to the equivalent of $7 in today’s prices. Yet in 2001, as global markets fell apart and the world headed into recession, Apple boldly launched iTunes, Mac OS X, the first Apple retail stores, and the first iPod.

The obsession with innovation and focus on amazing design never faltered. Everything about Apple and its products is simply cool. (I still have the packaging from the U2 iPod I bought years ago and my husband finally tossed the box from our two year old iMac.)

Fast forward eight years to 2009, a tough year by all measures, and a time where much of the computer industry struggles, yet Apple reported that it had sold a record 3 million Macs in its fiscal fourth quarter — a 16.4% increase compared with just 2.3% growth in the PC market. And it has held a higher price point and margin, despite the recessionary environment and the increasingly competitive landscape. Plus the revenue from the computer industry is a shrinking piece of its overall revenue pie given Apple shipped over 22 million iPods during its first quarter (up 3 percent from last year) and 4.4 million iPhones.

Here’s another one of those “Ohhhh I wish I had done that!” head slaps. If you had invested $1,000 in Apple ten years ago (Dec 1999), today it would be worth over $7,500.  (Crap. I wish I had done that, but I was licking my wounds from taking a beating on some dot coms stocks.) Today, Apple is valued at about $170 billion, slightly more valuable than Google and a far cry from the $5 billion valuation in 2000.

For the second year in a row, Apple is the #1 most admired company in the world and recently Steve Jobs was named Fortune’s CEO of the decade. Just today, I read that Macs held the top three spots on Amazon’s “Most Wished For” laptop list this holiday, as well as the top four spots on the desktop computer wish list.

Apple didn’t create personal computers, but it made them personal.  It didn’t create digital music, but it did create a cultural icon.  It didn’t invent the smartphone, but it made one that people lust after and are willing to stand in line for hours to buy.

With 275 retail stores, a 73% share of the MP3 player market, and the undisputed leadership position in innovation when it comes to mobile phones, Apple and its CEO are no one’s idea of underdogs anymore.

It’s been a difficult year, one where my natural reaction has been to pull back and play it safe, even when I know in my heart that now it the time to take risks. I’ve kept moving forward, and taking risks. But it’s been hard. And every so often, I need a boost to keep going.  Today I needed that energy boost again (not to mention I was desperate for a hair color — which is why I had two hours of uninterrupted time to catch up on some reading in the first place.) Whenever I read about the journey of Apple, I feel re-energized and more determined than ever to take bold steps.

BTW, I know I enjoyed this laugh, so I bet you will too. Check out this article titled the Great iPhone Death Watch. I bet there are a few people listed here with a little crow on the menu.

I braved the crowds Friday and a day with my mother-in-law to spend my fair share — I came in slightly above the average at about $360 (if I don’t count the stuff I bought for myself).

Some interesting shopping stats and insights at the National Retail Federation Holidays site.

Google will provide a better data set for advertisers to work with, allowing them to plan their advertising campaigns around the ways that most people are watching the content.  Advertisers can use this data to understand which audiences and ads are most effective, which will more than likely lead to more relevant ads for viewers (addressable television). 

Although this model is very smart allowing advertisers to gain additional insight into the consumer it also has its drawbacks.  The problem that Google still has is that the inventory they are selling is not always quality.  Until they can reach critical mass with this product questionable inventory will always be an issue.  Also, it is impossible to know when people are actually in front of their TV’s when the DVR’s are on.  Nielsen estimates that 10% of DVR’s are never turned off, while 30% are on for 24 hours on any given day. 

Don’t get me wrong this is definitely a step in the right direction but with anything new out there it must be weighed and tested.

 HBR 11-13-09

Minjae Lee is a young South Korean artist whose work expresses a semi-disturbing inner tension that is tough to ignore, even if you feel that you’d like to. Its powerful colors, halting imagery and clever juxtaposition of beauty, innocence and fragility with brash, loud and aggressive is what stopped me in my tracks. I can’t stop staring at each image, no matter how harsh they can be at times.

My world as a designer, sometimes gets a little sterile…design on screen, structure within that design, selling, promotions, etc and when I see an illustrator with such an organic and fresh style, and one that evokes such emotions, it makes me wake up and take notice.

Another thing that is just as inspiring is that Minjae is only 19 years old! He is self-taught and uses traditional tools — such as markers, pens, crayons, acrylics — to create his illustrations.

Drama is the theme that seems to permeate all of his work. His unworldly females exude a dark, organic tension. Even the brightest colors do not elevate them out of their dark, dangerous and edgy world. It is so refreshing and inspiring to see something this different – no matter how dark the subject matter. LOVE his work!!

I’ve had my antennae up and I think I finally got wind of something concrete.  Stinky garbage.

Actually, it started as an observation that the restaurant business is booming.  A friend and owner of a local French Bistro sent out a simple promotion recently.  He’s delighted that his simple offer has produced overwhelming results packing his restaurant with eager diners.  But I wondered – was it the draw of that particular offer – or were things turning around.

Then I went out to dinner last night (Thursday).  Yet another restaurant was loaded to capacity and the noise was deafening.  The last time I’d been there (in July) I could have had my choice of any booth – this time I was lucky to get an ill-placed table.  Hmmm.

Water cooler talk convinced me that local restaurant parking lots have been full to capacity over the past few weeks.  So it seemed like time to do some checking.  According to a post on Forbes.com by Maureen Farrell the restaurant industry is a pretty good indicator, and indications are that things are definitely improving.  She quotes a restaurant industry pundit, Sam Firer who looks to the size and scent of restaurant garbage piles.  According to Sam “this summer it was stinky again”.   I don’t know about you but I’m pretty excited about the stink!

What I did find is inspiration. Inspiration regarding customer service. My first stop was at Blue Store early in the morning on my way to work. I headed in the door and down the main aisle to get what I needed. Along the way, a store associate asked if they could help me find anything I needed. I let them know I was familiar with what I needed, but thanks for asking.

When I got to the checkout at Blue Store, the cashier was also friendly, asked if I’d found what I was looking for and wished me a good day. Successful customer experience. Granted, I would pose that this is what every standard experience in a store should be, but hey – expectations for good customer service are LOW these days.

In Orange Store, which I visited in the early afternoon right after lunch time, my experience was even better. As I walked in the door, a young man greeted me and asked if there was anything he could do to help. On my way to what I was looking for, another associate asked if she could assist me with anything. When I was browsing hardware items, another associate was breezing by the aisle and saw me looking, and then came back to make sure I was finding what I needed. This was no casual, “can I help.” It was a concerted effort to ask. Finally, on my way out, another associate asked if I’d found what I was looking for and if they could help.

While I didn’t purchase anything, I was thoroughly impressed.

Here were two store experiences where I felt as if I was being taken care of by the people who worked there. It wasn’t about the store, the product, or anything else for me. I actually didn’t find what I wanted because they didn’t even carry it. I spent 15 minutes of my time looking for nothing. But along the way the people made an impression on me, and my opinions of the stores got better. Orange Store really impressed me. The people were nice, asked if they could help, and didn’t pressure or bug me. I felt they truly were there to help and that I could easily ask if I needed anything. Blue Store employees were nice as well, but I didn’t see as many or have the same easy-going feeling as at Orange Store. Not a problem, though – it was still fine.

Now, I’m a HUGE fan of customer service. I credit my formative working years with that. I started sacking groceries at the city’s largest full-service family-owned grocery chain when I was 15. Shirt, tie, dress pants. All to sack and carry out groceries to the customer’s car. And it didn’t matter if there was one sack or ten – you DID NOT ASK the customer if they would like a carry-out – you picked up the bag and followed them to their car. That was part of your purchase.

I learned a LOT during my 9.5 years there. Much more than sacking (the company’s Best Bagger 1996!), stocking, display building, merchandising, sanitation, scheduling, management, accounting, human resources, training, receiving, restaurant management, floor maintenance, checking, inventory control, loss prevention, and cake decorating. (Don’t ask. It would be fodder for Cake Wrecks.)

What I REALLY learned was about people and service. What I was always proud of was the philosophy of service that was ingrained in us. The customer came into our store, paid good money, and should be treated to an exceptional experience. Every customer, every time.

I carried out groceries for a long time, while I aspired to build displays and stock. Learn more skills and advance through the ranks. The company helped train their employees exceptionally well. Almost every person in the entire company was promoted from within. You started as a sacker and/or checker and worked your way up from there.

I also went through 3 interviews to get a job. Yes. Three. Interviews. To sack groceries as a 15-year-old. And not interviews at the store with some college kid. I went to the corporate office, talked to the human resources manager, and a couple other people who I’d get to know very well during my tenure there. Then we went through corporate-level training and store-level training. It was serious business, and not everyone got hired. Back then – in 1989 – it was kind of a competitive and prestigious place to work.

That gets us to today. The country is (supposedly) coming out of a recession. Lots of businesses cut costs to the bare minimum at the onset in order to stay afloat or weather the downturn as best as possible. Along with advertising budgets, I think customer service was hard hit as well. Trim staff, do more with less, and get the job done. I understand. But coming out of it, what’s going to differentiate you from the competition? You’ve kept prices down, hopefully, You’ve made it through. But what will win you new customers and clients?

I’m going to suggest that it’s better customer service.

Unless you stopped doing a good job, then you should still be focused on being the best in your competitive field. So your product is good. How to win new clients? Offer them the best overall experience. Go above and beyond.

Which makes me think about how we’re doing now. I know I don’t do the best I can at all times when it comes to serving my customers. I also know that in my mind I have set the bar extremely high as to what the minimum customer experience should be. We make progress and get better all the time. I have a running list of customer service improvements and we’re taking action on them. I always want to do a great job – and I want my customers to feel that way, too.

How are we doing? How are you doing?

If you have feedback for me, please let me know!

Via Contemporist

BC (before children) I carried on this tradition and made dozens of lacy pieces that I still pull out each year at the holidays.  I even attempted it a few times with my kids, but after a few incidents involving cut fingers, fights with scissors and too much blood, I put the tradition on hold.  Now that my kids are mostly past the battle to the death phase as siblings, I want to create additional pieces to add to the collection.

Last weekend I was feeling crafty and started to search out some pattern ideas and in my search came across some of the most beautiful paper art pieces I’ve seen in a long time when I stumbled across a piece in Fast Company about a new show at the Museum of Art and Design, titled “Slash: Paper Under the Knife”.  Some absolutely amazing work!  The kind of work that really intrigues and inspires me.

Like this beautiful work by Ferry Staverman, A Space Odesey:

And this one, Mia Pearlman’s Eddy:

Gorgeous stuff.  It’s amazing what artists can do with paper.  And now, I absolutely have to go see this show.

What started as a search for creative ideas for a craft project resulted in a planned trip.  Just goes to show, you just never know where a search may lead.   I like these kind of journeys.  A lot.

1. He’s one of the funniest people on Twitter.
2. He developed one of the coolest apps available for the iPhone.
3. He’s 1/3 of one of the best podcasts on iTunes.
4. He is the world’s foremost Fishstick instructor.

He also has a blog rich in found content, which I unintentionally visited last night while sorting, filing, and cataloging more than 400 loose bookmarks in Firefox (please don’t ask). During this task, I clicked on a link that — several months ago — I had re-titled simply: “Genius.” (This is ironic, because I didn’t remember where the link would take me, which seems to be the opposite of genius.) It directed me to one of Mr. Lisagor’s entries, the main content of which is reproduced below. It is wisdom about art and performance and ultimately life imparted by Thelonious Monk to a young saxophone player. It is genius and applies to much more than the mastery of reed instruments. We could all heed Monk’s advice, regardless of profession.

[Unfortunately, I end this post on another note of non-genius. I now realize that the original post was from Neven Mrgan, another funny, funny guy. My apologies, sir. Thelonius said: "Always know." One of these days I might absorb that.]

These new text based ads will appear in Google search results next to standard business listings, and will be displayed based on the location of your business, the categories your business is defined for and the location of the searcher.

Unlike the current AdWords model, all ads are based on a flat monthly rate. This rate will vary however based on your business type and location. Official pricing for this product has not yet been announced by Google.

The analytics provided with this service are quite nice. You will get full reports on:

• Ad Impressions
• Click-Thru Numbers
• Calls (Based on an 800 number automatically provided by Google that redirects the call to your business number)
• Search terms used when you ad was displayed

Along with these statistics you have two options on where to send people from you ad. You can send them to your current website, if your company has one, or you can create a special business listing within Google Maps.

It will be very interesting to see the initial feedback on this new product. If all goes well, I’m certain this Google Local Advertising will roll out nationally relatively quickly.

And you know what…she did. Nine bags of groceries for just over $13 bucks.  And people around her cheered her on.  Me included.  Then I checked out, without a coupon to my name, and walked out with my $100+ in groceries in 5 bags feeling kind of stupid.  And maybe a bit irresponsible.

As I was putting away my groceries, I kept thinking about the coupon lady.  I know who she is because her daughter goes to school with mine. She’s probably in the same income bracket as me.  Which made me wonder if coupon use was up among all income brackets or just some.  Turns out data from Nielsen published last month underscored the growing usage trend among higher incomes, showing that households earning $70,000 or more a year were among the top coupon users.

Which of course made me wonder if I should take a more active role in trying to save money.  However, I hate clipping coupons.  Really hate it.  And on the rare occasion when I do take the time to clip, I don’t sort them and don’t end up using them anyway.  (All of this was running through my head while I unpacked the cans and stacked them in my pantry.)

Then as I sat down a few minutes ago to glance through the paper, I see an article about this very subject headlined:  “Great time for U.S. consumers; Bargains are the ‘new normal’.” Jeezzz.  OK.  Maybe I need to pay attention and actually do something.  Other than sigh when I read, “there is a new societal pressure to be careful and smart when buying almost anything.”

No kidding. Everywhere I turn tonight, I feel like someone is trying to tell me I need to be smarter with my money.  I have thought more about “should” tonight than I ever have.  But I’m not a filer.  I lack the discipline for organized grocery lists.  And most coupons are paper that require organization. So I’d probably end up with 20 things of deodorant I don’t like and would never use if I started clipping coupons at this point.  Simply because it was a good deal.

I’m amazed that paper coupons still rule.  Because they are so cumbersome.  But they do.  In fact in the first half of this year there was a 29 percent increase in coupons distributed for food products, and coupon redemption climbed 23 percent during the same period.

Obviously there are a lot of organized people out there.  But maybe a little something else is at play as well, given this insight in a recent New York Times article.  “Consumer psychologists posit yet another reason for the popularity of paper coupons: Because it takes more work to acquire them, the people who do so feel they have outsmarted other shoppers.”

Well, I definitely felt outsmarted tonight. And have vowed to do something about it.  Obviously there are dozens of coupon web sites, but they still require printing and organizing. Not my thing and I know I wouldn’t stick with it.   So instead I signed up for Cellfire, which lets me download coupons to either my Bakers value card or to my cell phone.   No organization required and I can still feel smart (or at least smarter) next time I go to the grocery store.  Somehow I doubt I’ll best the coupon lady with her cart of stuff for $13, but at least I won’t feel irresponsible anymore.

Word-of-mouth has always been a company’s biggest ally or largest nemesis based on whether or not it fulfills its brand promise. I have a friend who’s pretty pissed at Disney right now because they failed today. Disney’s brand promise is magic. They charge a premium price for submersing their park’s visitors in that magic. But today they didn’t deliver fantasy. They delivered reality: stuff breaks.

That’s cool. Stuff does break. And that’s why this isn’t a rant on perfection. It’s also not a rant on word-of-mouth, as you might have guessed. But today the flu trumps transition. In fact, it’s not a rant at all. It’s a simple question.

Why shouldn’t Disney refund my friend’s park entrance fee? And her airfare? And offer her a written apology promising to fulfill their brand promise if she ever decided to give them a second chance, which they understand probably won’t be the case?

I’ve been to a Disney property four times in my life. Three out of those four times I’ve spent more than 70% of my day either in line for or actually riding Space Mountain. You could say that I went to the Magic Kingdom just to ride Space Mountain. Know why you could say that? Because I did. And if it were closed, I can almost guarantee that I’d end up on the front page of the Orlando Sentinel the next day in a less-than-flattering news story that would undoubtedly include a mugshot. I’d make Clark Griswold look like St. Thomas of Aquinas.

So as absurd as it sounds, let me ask again: Why shouldn’t Disney go out of their way to make reparations?

“But, Cliff, c’mon. Seriously? There’s so much more to do than just Space Mountain. You want them to refund the whole thing just because one ride was closed?”

Yes.

Why? Tickets for four people were $1000. If she’d called last week and told Disney that she’d had an unexpected expense that month and she could only give them $600 for her tickets, what do you think the magical customer service rep on the other end of the phone would have said?

“Ha.” That’s what he would have said. “Ha, ha, ha. It doesn’t work like that. It’s all or nothing.”

All or nothing. What a concept. That’s the rule we – as consumers – follow every day in the marketplace. A BMW M5 starts at $85,000. I can’t give a salesman the keys to my crappy trade-in and a check for, say, $8000 and expect to drive that incredibly sweet ride off the showroom floor. Doesn’t work like that. All or nothing.

So why does it work for Disney? Or for major airline carriers when their cancelled or delayed flights cause you to domino your way into travel hell? Or for any company that delivers an inferior experience?

I know some of you are saying: “Well, when you have a poor experience, you don’t have to go back.” That’s true. But why should I pay you for your first failure? It’s your brand promise, after all.

Why are individuals playing by one set of rules and businesses often playing another game altogether? Why aren’t they forced to say: “We screwed up, and this one’s on us”?

More importantly, why aren’t they smart enough to say it? Because those who do often win customers for life. Or at least until they screw up again.

Social media 101 tells us that you have to get in there and know what is being said about your brand.  And it just makes sense that a company would be part of the dialogue about their own brand.  But I can state with absolute certainty that there’s a whole hell of a lot of leeway in what you can blog, chat or write about, or directly to, a company without ever hearing a peep back from them.  I know since I have personally skewered many a company on www.marketinginsideout.com and a few on www.menologues.com and have yet to hear a thing from one of them.  I’ve also written directly to companies with valid and genuine commentary and in response: nada.

And let’s face it, with all of the technology available to us I know that these companies are following our commentary – we track it.  So why aren’t they interacting with me?  Is it possible that the negative commentary is too overwhelming to acknowledge, or maybe they’ve read my brilliant diatribes and are cowering in a corner somewhere.  Let’s face it – there’s no positive spin for not taking advantage of the ability to interact with your audiences and not following up on what’s being said about your business.  Don’t be so quick to boast of your social media program if you’re just out there saying stuff – and not responding to what’s being said – because that would mean you’re only using ½ of social media – and it’s the easiest ½ at that.

There are some companies that have stockpiled answers to FAQs which they send out instantly as a query is made.  Too bad they generally don’t match the actual questions being asked.  Does the term interactive media mean nothing to you capitalist giants?  Don’t you see the value in a dialogue with your public?  Well, by missing that obvious opportunity you’re giving the edge to those of us who are not arrogant enough to insult the intelligence of our followers by wrapping everything in a neat little box of faux-interaction.  To those of us who get that real life is messy so real communication is bound to be messy too.

Until today, there was only one time this wasn’t the case: Saturdays. You see, I’m a transplant from the South. While the rest of the state is working itself into a frenzy over the Cornhuskers, I’m frantically trying to find which station is carrying my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide. Most Saturdays, I get lucky and find the game on my actual television, because the Tide are currently ranked third in the nation. Not today, though. Not in Nebraska.

I’m sure the game was on television East of the Mississippi, but I had to sidle up to my laptop expecting to periodically check the score on ESPN.com. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. Instead, I opened ESPN.com to find that I could watch the entire Alabama game on their new ESPN 360. Not only could I watch Alabama. I could watch dozens of games. And that was just football. As soon as the Crimson Tide rolled over the Wildcats, I watched Barcelona beat Almeria 1-0. That’s right. I switched from live American college football to live European professional futbol in about three seconds. And I never touched my television.

It was great. But while the content was fantastic, the advertising opportunities – from both the “channel” and the brand (yes, singular) on that “channel” – weren’t fully developed. It was as if the ESPN sales guy called a company and said: “Hey, uh, we’ve got this new place to do…something. Maybe run some commercials or something? Cool?” And that company guy said: “Um, cool. I suppose we could…I don’t know…run some commercials or something.” And they did. And it was pretty lame.

So let me point out the obvious to everyone involved. The Internet is not TV. Even when it is TV. Figure that out. When you do and you begin to offer the user (not the viewer) a relevant brand experience (instead of a commercial break), everyone will win.

Until then, the only winner is me. I never have to turn on my television again. Except to annihilate Guitar Hero V. But that’s another blog altogether.

RUNWAY SHOW 09

I was wrapping up the typical experience of reading a fashion magazine. By the time I get to the back of the pub, I was covered in about 10 different perfume scents, and about ready to say DONE for the night, I turned a page that literally took my breath away. Yes it stopped me dead in my tracks and took my freakin breath away. Jonathan Saunders. This designer is AMAZINGLY talented. He has this uncanny way of creating pattern to make something new and different. Organic geometry is how I would describe it. Very much reminding me of the talent that has always come out of Belgium. The Belgian designers tend to be a bit more avant garde, thinking about shape, form and function. Sometimes the shapes are minimal but the patterns on the fabrics are exquisite and original, taking the entire design to another level.

THE OUTFIT IN VOGUE THAT TOOK MY BREATH AWAY.

Vogue had this to say: “I’M still waiting for something to wow me,” confided a Fashion Week friend earlier on Sunday. “I’ve seen a lot of good clothes, but nothing really special, you know?” We know. We know. But all that changed Sunday night at the Jonathan Saunders show, when the Scottish-born, New York-based designer sent out what is arguably the coolest collection of the week thus far.”

A designer who i didn’t know anything about previous to tonight, mixes such graphic patterns and colors together that the ensembles transform into sculptures, paintings, works of art. What’s crazy, is that he completed a line for Target. But i didn’t put two and two together because the Target line is so much simpler and doesn’t really utilize his gifts for patterns and color. They were hip and mod and simple, but nowhere near the complexity and newness of his higher end couture and ready-to-wear lines.

At NY Fashion Week:

“As the androidish models stomped by in sky-high, brightly colored platform pumps, their hair obscured by identical black head wraps, shoulders braced in graphic zigzag capelets, black leather shrugs or kaleidoscopic epaulets, one could easily envisage these strong, future-world creatures easily slaying all monsters, real or proverbial.”

“I was thinking about strength and strong women,” Saunders confirmed post-show. “I think that’s a really important thing to focus on right now. And that came out in the silhouettes and the shoulders and in the colors, as well. And then I was thinking of things that I love, because in these times you’ve got to focus on what you love, whether it’s color or print.”

RUNWAY SHOW 09

Jonathan Saunders’ Fall 09 silhouettes are very Star Trek meets Blade Runner (although the inspiration is birds), but the prints bring a softer touch to the squared off shoulders and severe lines. The prints look like they were created by martians. And the colors are BRILLIANT. The way he pairs tones and color together is like nothing I have ever seen.

This is a great place to end. and say a big thank you to Mr Saunders for taking clothes to a level of art – very much inspiring.

http://www.jonathan-saunders.com/

“Brands live in the hearts and minds of consumers, not in neatly packaged commercials, ads or billboards. Brands are the cumulative experience over a period of time,” said Robin Donovan, managing principal of media and chief administrative officer of Bozell. “Karissa has a unique perspective to media placement that bridges the gap between traditional, Internet and social media platforms. She has extensive experience creating a robust consumer experience that works together to produce exceptional results.”

During her two year career at Bozell, Armstrong’s digital media expertise has impacted clients including Alegent Health, First National Bank, StonehouseGolf.com, WriteLife.com, Corn Refiners Association, CoCo Key Water Resort, Borsheims and Kansas Tourism. Her experience includes search engine marketing campaigns, negotiations and placement of television, radio, print, outdoor and online in more than 10 national markets, creation of sponsorships and promotional opportunities and developing strong relationships with key media partners.

Prior to joining Bozell in 2007, Armstrong developed national media experience in the San Diego Area. Over seven years, she worked with a variety of clients including the San Diego Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, Penta Water, TaylorMade, SignOnSanDiego,com and the University of Phoenix. Armstrong holds a Bachelor’s of Journalism from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.  She is also the vice president of All About Omaha, non-profit organization comprised of young professionals ages 21-40 who are looking to get involved both civically and socially and enjoy all Omaha has to offer.

About Bozell
Bozell is an integrated marketing communications company with offices in Omaha and Kansas City. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

But try they might.

According to a new survey conducted for the American Press Institute, more than half of newspaper publishers believe readers will pay to access online newspaper content.  The results from the first survey are being presented at API’s Newsmedia Economic Action Plan Conference this week.

Newspaper companies including News Corp. and MediaNews Group are among those that have already said they will begin charging for online content. News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch says the company will charge for all of its news sites, including FoxNews, by the middle of 2010.

One approach favored by many is to erect a pay wall around virtually all stories. Print subscribers are often—but not always—allowed to read articles free of charge. Everybody else must pay, either on a story-by-story basis or on a subscription plan. The Newport Daily News, a small Rhode Island newspaper, recently began charging $345 per year for online access to stories (that’s more than the print version).  (Interestingly enough Google is now developing a micropayment platform and pitching newspapers… which seems at odds with what Google CEO, Eric Schmidt told publishers at NAA in April that “consumers won’t pay for most online news”.  But based on how I read the proposal from Google, it sounds like they might also get a share of sales, which could explain the approach.)

Another option is to charge for just some content and make other content available free. The best example of this approach, with more than a million online subscribers, is the Wall Street Journal. Roughly half of its articles—generally financial news and business reports—sit behind a pay wall, although they are free if accessed via Google News.

This approach is much harder to emulate than it may appear. Between 2005 and 2007 the New York Times charged a subscription fee to read the paper’s most popular columnists online. It ended the experiment exactly two years ago because it seemed to be cutting traffic to the site and harming advertising revenue. The Los Angeles Times dropped an attempt to charge for arts coverage for the same reason.  A newspaper that wants to follow the Journal’s approach must produce copy that is both narrow in its appeal, highly valued and useful.

Paralleling these approaches are two other news content initiatives that could further impact the industry:

First is a content-management approach by Associated Press which includes plans for a system to detect unlicensed use of its content and potentially create new ways for the news cooperative to make more money online.  AP will bundle its stories in an “informational wrapper” that will include a built-in beacon to monitor where stories go.   This news registry will debut in November and will later expanding to videos and photos. Starting in 2010, newspapers that own the cooperative will be able to put their material into the registry as well.

The second approach, by start up Attributor, called the Fair Syndication Consortium includes Reuters and more than 1,000 publishers.  This one looks to be more of direct revenue-generating tactic, but still faces technical and legal hurdles.  Rather than trying to merely corral copyright-protected stories, the consortium hopes to take a slice of the ad revenue collected by an unauthorized Web site. However, to do that, it needs the cooperation of the big networks like Google and Yahoo, who so far have reacted coolly to the proposal. If a split can’t be agreed upon, the consortium will demand that the advertising running alongside the copyright-protected material be removed.

The issues are complex. I get that.  Newspapers pay their reporters to write stories and then many sites republish those stories and make money via advertising using content someone else paid for.  I get the angst.  But personally I don’t think the pay for content model is going to restore the news (and particularly the newspaper) industry to its level of previous profitability or even save it.  I think it’s short sighted and even misguided thinking.  Given the nature of the net, “news” won’t stop because news organizations wall off their content.  While I have all the respect in the world for a good, thorough reporter, they no longer have a dominance on reporting and analyzing the events in our world. My concern is that this move will only further marginalize the profession of news reporting with large segments of the population.

The hand wringing is about the art of journalism, but isn’t all of this really about advertising revenue? If you think about it, I mean really think about it, our subscriptions to the paper never really paid for the creation of news.  You can’t tell me monthly subscription revenue even came close to paying for the costs associated with producing a paper.  As a percentage of revenue, I wonder if subscription costs even cover the cost of paper and the home delivery.  In reality, advertising dollars underwrote the cost of journalism and those shrinking dollars are the cause of all the hand-wringing and why newspapers are in a world of hurt.

Not too long ago, we had the publisher of our local paper publicly say in a speech at a function that the paper wasn’t in the journalism business, it was in the ad business.  Many were shocked, but I gave him a lot of credit for having the balls to come out and say it.  To me it’s innovation newspapers missed and innovation they need.  Rather than trying to return to what they were, they need to face what is and get on with it.  And there are some very progressive thinkers in the industry with some great ideas for how newspapers can build community on and offline and regain a more progressive, leadership role.  But the train on pay for content has left the station and seems unstoppable at this point.  I just hope no one in the industry thinks it is a magic bullet.

By no means are the issues or ideas being discussed in the industry simple or unanimous. Opinions are as heated as they are varied.  Yet the simple question remains:  Will consumers pay for news online?  Will you?

I doubt I will.  At least for general news. I have too many other choices.

Some very insightful and thought provoking commentary has been written on this subject. If you haven’t followed the subject, here are some posts worth a read:

• Veteran alt-journalist Bill Wyman, in a piece in the web magazine Splice Today (headed by New York Press founder Russ Smith) summarizes the challenges of the newspapers in five easy pieces. His two-part essay, Five Key Reasons Why Newspapers Are Failing (one here and two here) takes aim at claims of civic virtue.
• Chris O’Brien, a business reporter at the San Jose Mercury News, contributing to the MediaShift blog, wrote one of the best explanations I have ever read about the inherent fallacy of the paid-content issue.
• In response to O’Brien’s post, and in further exploring the concept of the so called “original sin” committed by newspapers, Steve Buttry C3 Coach at Gazette Communications in Cedar Rapids, Iowa wrote a thought provoking post that basically summed up why the original sin in the newspaper model was more about failing to innovate rather than about failing to charge for content.  I agree with him wholeheartedly.
• In another post from Chris O’Brien, he advocates more of a anecdotal and observational approach to problem solving and innovation rather than a pure numbers approach which can often obscure the important lessons of the way people behave.  This struck a chord with me.  While I certainly value data and models as part of the analysis and planning process, I have found that anecdotes often provide me better insights into how to creatively solve a problem than numbers do.  In his post,  he states: ” I don’t believe there’s a magic data set waiting to be assembled that will lead us to the big “Ah-ha!” I don’t think we’re one reader survey away from figuring it all out. We live in an era where people turn to data as a crutch, leaning on it to give themselves a false sense of certainty. The facts don’t lie, right? Except we know that they do. A lot of such data is formed by the biases and frames through which the questions are formulated, asked, and then interpreted. The newspaper business has failed to recognize its own flawed frames. To this day, no matter what you hear from a newspaper executive, they still believe their primary purpose is to get people to read them in print. It’s why newspapers still spend so much money propping up circulation by subsidizing a large number of people through persistent telemarketing.”

Baxter at left, Elliot at right

It seems everyone in our house has a soft spot for animals.  In addition to the standard fare like two dogs (both of which have since passed away) and cats (more on this craziness later), we’ve raised baby birds who’ve fallen from the nest, baby bunnies abandoned by their moms, turtles rescued from the middle of the highway, umpteen hamsters (including Bear, the one-eyed blind hamster), guinea pigs and even a squirrel.  It comes with the territory as parents.  At least it has in our house when our girls looked at us with those big, pleading eyes asking us to “save him” or  “make her better.”

Yes I said squirrel.  This was one of our more bizarre animal rescues. He fell out of tree in our backyard after a storm and his mom never came for him.  So we took him in.  Feed him with a little tiny bottle and nursed the darn thing to health despite the Vet telling us it was futile.  Rocky was a real trip.  About three weeks after we got him healthy, he jumped out of his box and I discovered him playing with the cat. Actually teasing the cat.  He’d run across the floor, scamper up the drapes and wag his tail at the cat who sat looking at him.   We tried to let Rocky loose in the back yard, but I’d come home from work and he’d meet me at the door, climb up on the screen door and want in the house.  It was nuts.  So we eventually took him over to Elmwood park and set him free.  I cried all the way home.

The story of the current cats in our household is very telling of the neon signs we must have our foreheads that says “softies” and of our daughters who know how to pull our strings.  It started with Mr. Jinx, an absolutely incredible cat that my husband and I got right after we were married.  He was a special cat and we adored him.  He watched over my kids as they were born.  He put up with all their pulling and prodding with a smile and a purr.   He was their best friend.  He was almost 21 years old when he started having terrible seizures and he ultimately passed away shortly after Thanksgiving almost five years ago.  We were heart broken.  My husband, who is a big tough guy, even broke down.  Jinx was one of the family and we still have his photo (and ashes) on the bookcase.

We all grieved for Jinx, but decided for the girls’ sake that we should get another cat.

Where we find ourselves today started, when my oldest daughter fell in love with a rescued farm cat who was in need.  He was a teeny tiny gray tabby when we got him, pretty feral and pretty sick.  He could fit in your palm with space left over. After several hundred in vet bills we nursed this scrawny cat, Max, to health.  He was definitely her cat.   And now weighs in at nearly 16 pounds.

Then, the girls and I, were at the Humane society and I fell in love with this pretty mangy looking orange tabby that was about 6 months old.  He came right up to me and jumped in my lap, started purring, and looked at me with these sweet eyes.  He reminded me of Jinx.  So I couldn’t resist.  I brought him home with a bow.  He’s everyone’s cat, he doesn’t discriminate.  Everyone wants to hang with Baxter and he wants to hang with everyone.

Then a few months later, I discover that my daughter had rescued another sick little kitten and had been hiding it in her room for two days.  Mary Jane, a.k.a. Janie  (yeah my 17 year old daughter thought the name was pretty funny) was a 4 week old gray fur ball.  Several hundred more in vet bills.  Now that Janie is grown she thinks she is a princess and has decided I’m her buddy. So I’m the one she follows around, much to my daughter’s chagrin.

Then, the same daughter comes home one night with yet another kitten that she says she found huddled up near the garbage cans near a restaurant she was at with her boyfriend.  Again, this was a tiny kitten in need, very sick.  Jazz is a calico and spent her first couple days curled up in my husbands lap.  More vet visits, more money.  Today Jazz still follows Jeff wherever he goes and when he sits down, she wants to be near him.

Those four somehow became permanent members of the household, although that wasn’t the initial plan.

Last winter we had another foster who snuck in our house on his own.  Literally.  We woke up in the middle of the night  to this crying sound.  We got up to find out which cat got locked in which room and found “Houdini”.  He was an adult gray cat who sort of looked like Janie, but with long hair.  We couldn’t for the life of us figure out how he got in the house.  The only thing we could think of was that he snuck in through the garage and at a glance we may have thought he was Janie when we let him in.  We ran ads, we sent emails, we registered with lost and found at the Humane Society. We tried everything to find his owner.  When we took him to the Humane society they told us that if they couldn’t find his owner in a week that he would be euthanized.  We’re both too big of softies to let that happen, so we brought him home and started looking for someone willing to take him.  Finally after 6 months we found him a great home.

After all that, we thought we were done with the home for wayward animals.  That was until 4 weeks ago, when my youngest daughter asked if Elliot, her boyfriend’s new kitten could stay with us for a few days while he moved into a new apartment.   Being the softies we are, we said sure.  That was 4 weeks ago, and before the new apartment lease fell through.  At this point we don’t know what the plan is or how long Elliot will be in the home for wayward animals, but in typical fashion, we’ve become attached to the little cutie.

It’s a little crazy in our house.  Always has been. Probably always will be, given our history.  But I can’t imagine our home any other way.

P.S.  No one in our house can watch those Sarah McLachlan SPCA Commercials without crying.

But many aren’t so lucky.

Thankfully my circumstances are such that I’ve never needed to reach out for assistance.   But I’ve had lots of exposure to the enormous need as a result of serving on non-profit boards and through volunteer work.  To see a grown man or woman in need weep because they have no choice but to ask for help….to see staffers weep in frustration because there just isn’t enough to go around….is a humbling and eye opening experience.

I grew up with little.  In the way of material things.  But in many ways (especially as I look back now) I grew up very rich.  In a home with strong values, where three simple rules were drilled into my head:  1)  work hard 2) be a good person and 3) give back.  I remember many hours in my childhood sewing blankets at church, delivering food baskets to families in need and raking leaves for elderly neighbors.  My family didn’t have a lot of money to donate to worthwhile causes, but we always seemed to find ways to give.  To share what we had and to give of our time. Sure I grumbled back then because I wanted to play with friends instead.  But my Mom made it clear in no uncertain terms, that this is what you do.  You help out where you can.  So I did.  And today I can’t thank my parents enough for the values they taught me.

Today I’m even more aware of the need to help out where I can.  There are so many people struggling in our communities today.  And the last year has taken a massive toll.  Charitable giving fell in 2008 by the largest percentage in five decades, according to a study by the Giving USA Foundation. The decline was the first since 1987 and only the second time there has been a drop since Giving USA began publishing its annual reports in 1956.  More people are out of work, they struggle from week to week and they have less to share.

But while giving is down, need is way up.

Nearly two-thirds of public charities receiving donations saw decreases in 2008.

• 54 percent of human services charities saw an increase in need for their services
• 60 percent of human services organizations were cutting expenses, including cutting services or staff, due to funding shortages;
• Among organizations working to meet people’s basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, etc.), more than half (53 percent) said they are underfunded or severely underfunded for 2009.

Individual giving dropped 6 percent and corporate giving dropped almost 9 percent. Some experts said they were surprised the drop was not even bigger, given that endowments fell by as much as 40 percent, the stock market declined by a similar margin, corporations posted unheard-of losses and unemployment was rising at a fast clip.

In the fall many organizations start their fund drives.  Locally our United Way kickoff just took place last week with hundreds of people lining the pedestrian bridge in Omaha (in the pouring rain) to be a visible reminder of the real need to Live United.  And this year, more than ever, we all need to do what we can to help financially so that services in our community can help those in need.

Please help out.  Every single dollar makes a difference.

The judging was based on a point system and whoever had the most points, would walk away with a 1″ button maker (valued at over $300). The judges were brilliant minds and the line-up made it daunting at the same time extremely inspiring! (Stanley Hainsworth: Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Tether , Stefan G. Bucher of 344 Design and lastly, Robynne Raye Co-founder and Principal of Modern Dog Design Co.) wow!!

Because our team wanted the button machine in a baaaaad bad bad way (Did I mention we wanted a button machine? In a bad way?), we uploaded as many designs as possible over a span of a few days. Even the writers were pitching in some awesome ideas! It was indeed a group effort. In total we entered upwards of 40 buttons and came oh so very close. It was a great time and challenge to think “Small”. What words or visuals have the most impact in such a small scale? So much of what we thought would work, did not seem to translate in such a tiny format. And lingo like “I Showered Today” or “I Like Toast” were memorable and received big recognition.

All in all, it was a completely fun opportunity where we were able to fuse our whacked senses of humor with our love for design. And thanks to the contest, we are now hooked on making buttons. (our order for a 1″ button machine is being placed as we speak…)

This issue has me commenting due to some things I’m going through with a couple clients right now. Domain names were registered with now-defunct AOL addresses, old work email addresses, old ISP email addresses, or old addresses in general. I also have friends and family members who claim I haven’t sent them something or that I never responded to their emails. When I explain that I have, I’m told – oh – I never use that address. I wonder why I got the message from that address in the first place.

Have you experienced this? Do you do it yourself? How do we put our email world in order?

I have dozens of email addresses. I always have. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Work, those of my personal domains and websites. Yuck. I only use three though when it gets down to it. The rest don’t matter and I never check them or they forward to my primaries. I’ll explain my philosophy and let you consider if it would make sense for you.

There are three parts to this email address philosophy.

• One Work Email Address
• One Personal Email Address
• One Public Email Address

Here’s how they break down:

Work Email Address

This is the email address for where you are employed. You might not be employed there tomorrow. Don’t tie personal information or services to this email address. Are your bank statements and official personal information coming to your work email address? Stop it. NOW. If you no longer have access to that email account then updating information, verifying changes, or getting anything done with it is going to be hard or impossible. You’ll also spend less time doing non-work things at work.

Personal Email Address

Quite simply, this is where all your friends and family email you and where you handle all non-work things. Again, you should consider longevity. Are you using your ISP (Cox/Qwest/Comcast/AOL) for your email address? What if you discontinue service with them or switch? How do you clean that up? Do you really want to tell everyone you know they need to update their address book in order to reach you?

Use a free online email service like GMail, Hotmail or Yahoo. It’s free. You can access it anywhere. They do a great job filtering spam. Tons of storage. And they will be around for a long time regardless of who you get your Internet service from. You’ll have it for as long as you want to have it, or until they all combine into one giant entity of a company.

You can also register your own domain name (like MyDomainName.com) and then run email accounts off of that if you are more technically inclined. Then you are in charge of the email accounts for as long as you own that domain name. The control is in your hands, not someone else’s. No more, “my email address has changed…” messages to people.

Public Email Address

This is the one component of simplification that might not sit well with some of you but hear me out. Do you trust every site you register with to keep your email address safe? Do you trust them to not send you junk you don’t want? I sure don’t. So I have one email address that I use for EVERY online order, signup, registration, or form I fill out through a third party.  This way, I know exactly where that confirmation email is coming to, where to find that lost password request, what email address is used to log into any particular site, and where all the related junk mail is going. Not to my work address, and not to my personal address. Use another GMail/HotMail/Yahoo account for this one.

This public address might be optional for you. I prefer it this way. I sign up for and register with so many sites that I’d never see my personal email if all that junk was filling my inbox. This way, I can log in, sort by sender, delete the old stuff, empty spam, and be done with it. Need that Borders coupon? There it is. Print. Delete. Done.

The Verdict?

There we have it. A pretty simple approach to handling your email life and being in control of it. If you change jobs or ISPs there’s no reason for you to have to make everyone remember a new email address. Just upate your LinkedIn profile and everyone has your new work email address and information. Change ISPs and nobody will care – your address is the same.

Let me know what strategies you use for email mangement and what you think of this approach. For more reading about simplification of your email life and habits, Zen Habits is always a great read.

Nice job. Very clever. It’s like a little game you decided to play with your cardholders. I like games, too. So since you like games and I like games, why don’t we play a quick guessing game. Cool? Okay, here goes. I’m holding up one finger over here on my end of the internet. Guess which one.

It was a cheap screwdriver. Cost me a buck at Target earlier in the day. There were two pieces of information stamped onto it. The first was a brand: Durabuilt. The second was a country of origin: China.

As I flipped it, I realized there was a factory worker half a world away whose sole job was to sit in a manufacturing plant every day and run the machine that identified a bazillion screwdrivers every week. He (or she) undoubtedly had no trouble understanding “China.” But what about the other word? That had to be confusing – even if the guy (or not guy) had a working knowledge of English. After all, what’s a Durabuilt? At some point that worker asked the question to a trusted, knowledgeable source.

Factory Worker: “I started my new job today.”

Grandfather: “What do they have you doing?”

FW: “I’m stamping screwdrivers. But I don’t get it. On one side of the screwdriver, I let everyone know where it came from. On the other, I stamp a word I’ve never seen.”

GF: “Didn’t you take English for a few years?”

FW: “Yes. But I guess I didn’t make it that far.”

GF: “What’s the word?”

FW: “Durabuilt.”

GF: “Oh. Don’t worry. They wouldn’t have covered that in your studies.”

FW: “Why not?”

GF: “Because that’s not English. That’s advertising.”

I’m really not sure what makes that conversation better: comedic timing or a Greek chorus.

You’re wrong.

Not that you don’t matter. You do (unless you don’t, but that’s another rant altogether). While you’re oiling the machine, though, you can’t lose sight of the fact that it’s a machine. The inner workings of any business never rest on one person. It’s a vast network of knowledge, relationships, and stakeholders. Many people shake hands and hold hands, not just you.

Sure, an account occasionally follows one person. Yes, a client – whether internal or external – may sabotage a larger relationship for the sake of an individual relationship. But it’s the exception, not the rule. Smart clients and managers never lose sight of the machine. Those who dismantle it over the removal of a single cog often find themselves unnecessary in the new machine they’ve created. That’s called irony. Or karma.

This isn’t to say that you’re not special. There’s a good chance you are. It would take a lot of effort to replace you. It would take weeks to bring someone up to speed. Months or years would pass before anyone could have the kinds of relationships you’ve fostered or the knowledge you’ve absorbed. That said, it happens every day.

Advertising and marketing are industries built on Ego. Insecurity often masquerades as Ego. I think a lot of us want to believe that no one can live without us. We don’t want that to be the case. But it is. When you realize that – and then embrace it – you’re actually better for your business. Your work means more, because it becomes about progressing towards goals instead of focusing on the preservation of the individual.

Still think the office would fall apart without you? Take a vacation. A real vacation. Put down the iPhone. Unplug your laptop. Read a book. Walk. Bike. Eat without looking at your watch to see when you need to be back at work. Because you don’t. Just breathe, relax, and forget about the office.

Then…go back. Hey, look. An entire week passed and the place is still standing. The machine is running. It found another groove while you were gone. The irony: once it’s proven that you’re indispensable, the machine always welcomes you back. You’re renewed and refocused. You have new energy. And that’s what makes a machine based on networks, relationships and knowledge thrive.

Last week I took a vacation. Today, I’m ready to work.

Dear anyone else that cares,

What decision?  On Thursday, Sony Electronics announced that by the end of the year it will sell digital books only in the ePub format, an open standard created by a group including publishers like Random House and HarperCollins.

This means Sony has come down firmly on the side of the open standard.  What that single common set of technology standards means is much more flexibility for consumers of ebooks.  It means we can use any device that supports the standard, from low cost basic models to those high end whiz bang devices with tons of features.  And don’t have to worry or think about what ebook can be read on what device. I have no problems with the realities of digital rights and restrictions on how the content can be used/distributed, but I don’t like being told how and on what device I can read that content.    So I applaud this move because it simplifies use and encourages even more rapid adoption of ebooks (which means more great content for me to devour).

E-book sales in the United States hit a record $14 million in June, a 136.2 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the Association of American Publishers.  And Amazon is the 800lb gorilla in this sector with the largest share, but thus far has advocated the closed platform approach and is opting to go it alone and not adopt the common standards.  It will be interesting to see which side Apple comes down on when they launch their tablet.  If (and it’s probably a big if given’s Apple’s propensity for closed systems) they come down on the side of the open standard, it could very well change the dynamic of the powerful share held firmly right now by Amazon.

It’s like no one has taken the time to realize that the menopausal woman is a person.  She doesn’t see herself as “menopausal” or “aging” and she’s not trying to write a thesis on the effects of menopause.  So don’t throw a bunch of charts and graphs at her.  Don’t find a special “old lady” font so that you can talk to her in a way that she can relate – because she can’t.

Instead, talk to her like you would a person.  Because that’s what she is.  Tell her what she might find inconvenient about menopause, and make her laugh with anecdotes of how other women have coped.  Assure her that just admitting she’s in menopause won’t make everyone who meets her look for white hair in a bun, granny glasses and a frumpy old house dress with sensible shoes.  Don’t make her feel old and ostracized like some kind of freak. Especially if you want to engage her.

On May 22nd we launched a blog on menopause, www.menologues.com.  It came about because so many friends and acquaintances have asked for some kind of painless guidance through the trials and tribulations of the dreaded and feared menopause.  Some of the most intelligent women that I know are embarrassed to admit they don’t know the basics – but they admit that they should.  So I started jotting down my thoughts and my experiences with the hope of making menopause less menacing.  I shared my initial post with my partner – who is just beginning her quest for information on the subject – and she was adamant that there is a huge need not currently being met.  That was the birth of Menologues.  And judging from the overwhelming response from menopausal, peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women I feel confident that we have uncovered a way to talk and connect with a sizeable segment of the menopausal set.

And the moral of the story is – first and foremost treat everyone like a person.  And the odds of connecting with them will increase dramatically.

So when Google (of which I am admittedly a decent fan of) launched their web browser nearly a year ago, I happily installed it and got to know it. I’ve been using it as my primary browser since. Not because it’s all that super-amazing and better than all the others, but because it’s SIMPLE. There’s no overload of features and functionality. No toolbars and all the other add-on crap that makes me hate using a browser. It starts up. I open tabs. I get things done. Sure, knowing that each tab uses its own system process makes the geek in me happy, but that’s just bonus.

But my thoughts here are not about Google Chrome. It’s more big picture and where my usage of chrome is leading me. The other day, a post in a Chromium developer group mentioned some of the plans Google has for getting Chrome to be able to sync info like bookmarks across different computers via your Google Account. At least, it’s starting with bookmarks. Read this article by Ryan Paul for more insights and analysis.

Why is any of this of note? Just more to watch from Google. Look at how they are “independently” assembling all the various aspects of what you need to run your business or your life from “the cloud.” Email, web browsing, document creation and management, calendars, instant messaging, advertising, discussion forums, blogging, image storage and manipulation, shopping, news, maps, videos, voice and even more. Plus the ability to search it all. They have some of everything, but each little piece can also live on its own.

Now, take the ability to tie it all together via the “cloud” of the Internet and you’ve really got something. The reason I think this is particularly significant is because instead of talking about it and hyping it and making a huge deal out of it through some marketing push, Google is simply doing it. They are telling us what they have done. Not necessarily what they are going to do someday. And all of these things together are quite an impressive suite of FREE services.

Keep paying attention to this. Consumers are going to naturally gravitate toward the easiest, most intuitive and economical solutions out there. Without really thinking about it I changed my browser from FireFox to Chrome simply because Chrome got out of the way more. And now I’m VERY excited that I will be able to sync something like bookmarks and preferences across multiple computers easily and automatically without having to use del.icio.us or anything external. What can you do in your own business to get your customers the things they need and want without getting in their way?

Google’s growing as a platform for technology, business and simply interacting online. They are trying on a lot of different “shoes” in the form of projects, technologies, strategies and everything else they can think of. One of them might be a big kicker, but I think it’s the comprehensive suite of interrelated and compatible services that’s going to help keep them running far ahead of the pack for years to come.

The cost per tweet (CPT) will run an advertiser between $2 and $30,000 per tweet for a 140 character message.  About 5% of the 200 tweeters are celebs.  Every link is 100% trackable with the integration of Google Analytics. 

Twitter again is getting the raw end of the deal because they won’t make a dime off of this model.  Everyone else is making money off of Twitter except for the company itself.  I think this could potentially be a lucrative model, but if I were Twitter I would find a way to get a cut from this and everyone else.  I guess that’s the beauty of technology though. 

I want to know what the Twitter Universe thinks about this possible new CPT model introducing advertisers on their turf.  Will it affect your overall experience with Twitter?  

Let me know your thoughts.

College textbooks (or any textbook for that matter) are outrageously expensive.  Last year we forked over nearly  $1,100 for my daughter’s college textbooks. At the time that seemed way out of whack to me and I attributed it to the specific cluster of science classes she was taking. But since then, I found some eye opening stats:

• textbook prices have nearly tripled since the late 80s; now they set students back an average of $900 per year, or 14% of annual tuition at an average public school (BusinessWeek, 10/20/08).
• the price of textbooks is rising at twice the rate of inflation.
• the College Board recommends that students budget up to $1,229 for books and supplies.
• it’s no cottage industry.  The textbook market is a  $5.5 billion market.

Like most industries, it’s under intense pressure to evolve.  Primarily because of those spiraling costs.  Hence, there are a lot of companies looking at innovation in the primary and secondary education textbook market well beyond just expanding the “used” book market.

There are lots of ideas being thrown around.  Technology being one of the them. There’s significant focus on digital textbooks as a promising way to lower costs and increase options for students, as well as open up the market to more competition.  They are already gaining a more prominent position in the textbooks marketplace.  Companies like CourseSmart, iChapters, Zinio, eCampus, CafeScribe and many others have sprung up.  Traditional publishers like McGraw-Hill and Taylor and Francis have gotten into the ebook game.  And of course Amazon and the Kindle are right in there.  In fact, three textbook publishers that collectively publish 60% of the country’s textbooks recently agreed to publish new Kindle DX versions of their books. At least six universities will be running Kindle pilot programs, wherein a number of students will be provided with the devices to see how students react.

Now I’m an eBook fan, but in my experience many eBooks cost damn near the same as their printed counterpart.  I did some research on textbooks and found that often that was the case with textbooks as well (although I’m sure some educational institutions arrange discounts).  Secondly, many of the eBook texts are purchased based on limited time use only (i.e. a semester).

These issues may be why California has gone even further…into digital open-source texts.  In June, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger promoted his state’s recently announced initiative, which would see it adopt free, digital textbooks in time for the next school year.  Proponents of digital open-source texts tout the fact that when information and facts change, educators can make immediate adjustments.  Take Pluto for example.  It’s still listed in some textbooks as a planet.  And that won’t change until the next textbook comes out. Traditional print textbooks are usually approved by states on a six-year cycle.  But online, you can change the information immediately.

The concept of “open source”  textbooks varies from what most of us have commonly come to think of as an “open source” concept.   It doesn’t mean that you have a textbook created like Wikipedia via collaborative consensus.  Open source textbooks are textbooks distributed free digitally under an open license.  The key feature of an open license is that it permits users to make copies of the textbook and translate it into different formats.  So, open textbooks start as digital textbooks but can be printed in a variety of formats. In California, digital publishers submit their work for approval to California Learning Resource Network, which will then handles the evaluation process to determine if it meets the states’ standards.

Makes sense, right?  But do the publishers of all this text work for free?  How does this stuff get created if it isn’t via a model like Wikipedia?   Are publishers looking at…let me guess…ad supported models?  The more I read on this subject the more I realize there is a long way to go before there’s any real clarity on pragmatic solutions that work for everyone.

Which brings me back to why I wrote this post in the first place. It became a top of mind for me last week when considering textbook options for an integrated marketing class I’m going to teach as an adjunct again this fall at a local university.  The simple fact is that NO marketing textbook can possibly keep up with the fast pace of change in the industry, so last year I opted to use a previous version, then replaced sections or supplemented, where it was outdated, with explorations of current events, case studies and real life examples.   And that textbook cost the students 66% less than the brand new edition (which, by the way, was still outdated by the time it came off the press.)

I looked at eBooks for this year, but while I’m a fan, an eBook text isn’t as user friendly as you might think.  Think back to college when you were studying and all the sticky notes and highlighters you used to mark important sections/concepts so you could easily find them later.  eBooks just aren’t there yet to enable you to make good notes on them in relation to the content or to skim them quickly like you can a book.  So in looking at the options out there for this year, I stumbled across Chegg.com which is a company with a very simple solution for right now.  Books for rent.  Almost any book you want/need.  And from my research, the rental route was even cheaper than most used books.  Sure you can’t resell it. And you have to send it back at the end of the semester, but they make that pretty easy.  And given the astronomical pace of change in marketing, keeping a marketing textbook for future reference has little value.  Instead my intent is really more about getting the kids who want to go into the field to understand it requires lifelong learning, insatiably curious, being fearless of change and passionate for the craft.  The textbook is merely the context in which to put those teachings.

Sites like Chegg and Bookrenter are probably not the end-all-be-all-long-term solution for the textbook market (and I’d bet those company founders understand that and are preparing to evolve as the market does), but they are simple, no fuss, no muss solutions.  So they are great business models for today.

One thing I found particularly helpful was the segment where she talked talked about the one question we can all use to make a real difference: “How can I help?”

That’s all it comes down to. That’s what we all want to do for each other and our clients every day. Help. I might be able to help you with a strategic website plan. I can help you with some business insights. I certainly know someone who can help you with establishing a strong social media presence or someone who can design a killer logo, write amazing headlines, or put your ad in front of a highly relevant audience.

The key here is that I can help. I want to help. Either by doing it myself or by finding you the person or resource that can help. And I think that’s what we all want to do – we all want to help each other do the things we need to, and want to do. So why does it always seem more difficult than that?

What I’m really stressing here is the mindset of, “How can I help?” rather than telling you that “I can help” or just telling you that you should want to help people.

The next time you’re faced with a situation where your typical reaction might be, “OH MAN! That request should have come in 3 hours ago – there’s no way I should have to do this now!” think instead about how you can help. Resistance before action will only slow things down. Providing feedback afterward, however, can help influence future decisions.

Reality is reality. We can fight it, or we can help and do some positive things toward making reality a better place to be.

How can I help?

Looking from the sand beach to the rock beach at Tahoe.

After less than an hour on the beach in Tahoe with my eBook I realized that it is simply not cut out for the beach.  Sand, water, kids and expensive digital devices just don’t mix.  That hour really stressed me out.  And that’s what I wanted to get away from.

I had to be cautious to make sure it didn’t get buried in the sand, lest I destroy it.  I had to make sure it didn’t get stepped on.  I couldn’t just lay it down on my towel and run out to the water to cool off for fear it would get stolen.  And I couldn’t just pick it up again until I dried off and wasn’t going to get it soaked.   And heaven forbid, what if I actually dropped it in the water…that’s a lot bigger problem than just a few soaked pages.

So, I stowed it away in my luggage and forked over the bucks for a few paperbacks … just for the peace of mind of being able to be thoughtlessly carefree in my vacation reading.

I’ve been closely watching the developments with eBooks, reading the speculation and plans regarding digital newspapers, magazines and other media and am not surprised about the continued growth in the category despite the economic downturn.  I was completely sold on my eBook and didn’t anticipate buying any more paper books.  But I have to admit I’ve rethought that.  I’ve discovered, there is still a place in my life for paper books.  And I don’t want some PDF file and a bunch of loose sheets on the beach.   I’d have them everywhere.

I don’t just read to glean information, I also read to relax and let my mind rest.  Yes, I read lots of things of value, but trash fiction is my Valium.  And I need my reading materials to work for me in whatever the situation.   So despite the cottage industries that have developed for eBook gear protection there is still a major hurdle for me to use a digital device in all situations.

Maybe they should talk to Negroponte (one laptop per child) and have the folks that designed the XO take a crack at it.  I bought one of those right after they launched a couple years ago and that little bugger seems indestructible.  Or maybe give Little Tykes  a crack at it.  If that stuff withstood my kids, it can handle anything.

It really amazes me how sexualized the fast food industry has become over the years.  What happened to the good ole’ characters like Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar and Grimace?  Now B-list celebs are the main characters in barely there outfits on top of cars eating burgers.  I get the whole “play to your audience” strategy and buzz worthiness, but do we all really need to be subjected to this crap?  There is a difference between being edgy and being repulsive.

Burger King really takes the cake with their new ad running in Singapore (pictured here and wasn’t created by Crispin Porter).  It references the word “blow” and the wide open mouth of a lady with a seven inch sandwich in front of her.  What message is this exactly sending?  Pretty disgusting if you ask me.

Burger King isn’t the only offender in this sad display of marketing.  Carl’s Jr, Hardee’s and Quiznos all get thrown in the pot as well.  Paris Hilton, Padma Lakshmi, Audrina Patridge and many other women have shown skin all in an effort to sell more burgers and sandwiches for these huge corporations.

What is the psychology behind this anyway?  Do guys think they are going to get this “hot” girl if they eat at one of these fast food chains?  Do women see someone skinny like Paris Hilton eating a burger and think I could too?   Don’t get me wrong I am always up for some risqué ads but sometimes it’s a little too much.

So why the decline?  Experts blame private labels and temporary price reductions.  “Temporary” price reductions are more likely to reduce brand loyality and encourage brand switching long term.  Also, many consumers who have traded down to store brands tend not to come back to the major brands.  Don’t get confused though, private labels are feeling the pinch as well.

So are any brands out there holding on to their loyalists?  The answer is yes.  Coca-Cola Classic, Folgers and Thomas’ English Muffins each kept more than 60% of their loyal consumers from 2007.  Many tout competitive product pricing and aggressive marketing efforts for their success.  All of these companies have kept a steady marketing presence through this recession staying top of mind with the consumer.

The package-goods industry is certainly becoming more competitive with private labels having a stronger presence.  I say let the battle rage on between the big guys and private labels and maybe we will all get a break.

What I’m enjoying right now is the proliferation of the satirical online personality and the conversations these folks are starting. It’s really interesting that we have a public forum (the Internet) and multiple means of communication with an audience (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs to name a few) where one person can create content and deliver a message and in turn, build an audience. People are now not only commenting on current topics and events, but getting involved on a more personal level by creating a whole persona through which to potentially get a point across. Or at least be funny.

One of the most widely publicized examples of this is Barack Obama’s Teleprompter’s Blog. “Totus” the teleprompter offers up blog posts from the perspective of Obama’s teleprompter. Classic. (Well, maybe not yet – it’s only been a few months that this blog’s been up.)

Obama’s taken a lot of heat over his extensive use of the teleprompter. OK – so what. Whether you’re a fan of a president or not, pay attention to what is said and not how it’s said. That’s not my point. The interesting thing about this story is that someone out there decided to become Obama’s online personality of the teleprompter. Now that’s funny. And they’ve built an audience and received extensive coverage for doing so.

A Google search for “Barack Obama’s Teleprompter’s Blog” – the official name of the blog – done today returned about 36,800 results. That’s not too bad for a blog that’s been online since mid-March and isn’t making a blatant case for self-promotion or monetization. In addition, a Google link search reports that 3,060 pages link directly to the official teleprompter blog. Nice work, Totus. You’ve created original content on a regular basis, stayed true to your form, and generated a good following. That’s how to blog.

A little bit closer to home, and the impetus for making this blog post of my own, is a new satirical personality that is taking advantage of the local newspaper’s website redesign.

The Omaha World-Herald just launched their new website at Omaha.com this week. They’ve taken countless hits over the past several years due to issues with their previous site. It’s no surprise that their new site is getting blasted as well. I doubt they could have released anything short of a direct emulation of CNN.com or NYTimes.com without taking some flak.

Sure, there are some things I’d recommend doing differently. Again, however, that’s not the point of this post. I’m more interested in the conversation that’s now taking place over the new site launch. There aren’t many relevant search results available for “omaha.com redesign” yet – several point to articles that contain those terms or were part of the old Omaha.com website. (Unfortunately, none of the old Omaha.com URLs redirect to the new paths.)

The current chatter is more along the lines of people not liking the design, not liking the layout, and being generally displeased with the new site. OK. Everyone gets their opinion.

But the most interesting development for me is the Twitter account for @NewOmahaDotCom. Here we have another satirical personality that is acting as the “official” Twitter stream for the new Omaha.com. There’s currently a lot of chatter going on, with direct replies going out to all the commentors. The latest, “I’m tired… Spent the whole night resaving my JPGs. thought it might help with the so called ‘errors’” points to the user comments about images, browser crashes, and general problems with the site.

This is another good example of someone with an obvious concern or interest generating content – even if it’s just for laughs – that’s getting picked up within the local community and generating buzz.

Like we’ve said many times before – people are out there talking about you, your brand, and what you’re doing. You can participate in the conversation or not. But if you listen, you’ll have a lot of the answers that your customers are already telling you.

I wonder if NewOmahaDotCom and Totus are related…

A new art program for the Department of Biochemistry, Salt Bridges http://saltbridges.bioch.ox.ac.uk/, has been an important driver of providing a creative environment. Artist Nicky Hirst led the project, creating a large-scale design for the front of the building featuring a series of inkblots. SO COOL!

Front of Oxfords' Bio-Chem building

The digital artist Tim Head created works that explore the similarities between biomolecular research and digital visual art. Fine art photographer Peter Fraser documented the construction period of the building, while Annie Cattrell was commissioned to create a large-scale sculptural work for the atrium. All of these artists were commissioned, and some even had residencies, by Oxford for the Biochemistry department.

Peter Frasers' work

The transparent glass exterior of the building makes the laboratories with researchers at work visible from the outside. Colored glass fins all around the building cast changing patterns of light while solar cells on the roof provide a significant part of the building’s electricity. Not to mention the flock of pink and orange seagulls that inhabit the buildings’ atrium. There are collaborative areas in the building where the exchange of ideas between scientists is promoted.

Annie Cattrell's pink and orange seagulls

What I love about this entire project is the fact that Oxford not only embraced but celebrated visually what the work of the Bio-Chem department. It not only raises the morale of those who work within the facility, it also gets the general public intrigued, excited and compelled to learn and know more. A “tribe” is created without much effort when you make things that impact and change the redundancy of the urban landscape. I love how Oxford is doing this in the architecture but also pulling in visual artists to create aspects of Bio-Chem all over campus. They obviously wanted others to understand their passion and what they do, else why would they have gone through so much effort to communicate this visually across many various platforms?

Here is a comment from a blog that I found that I had to share. The writer/bio chemist actually visited the site: “I’ve got to be honest and say that the organic chemistry building at Oxford was fantastic. Massive shared write-up areas meant that groups actually shared coffee and ideas far more often than in the other departments that I’ve worked in. There was also a policy of sharing lab-space with other groups – meaning that you often *saw* the chemistry happening, which is pretty useful.”

‘The aim was not just to re-accommodate existing activities in this new building,’ says Denis O’Driscoll, Department Administrator. ‘Instead it is designed for innovation – we wanted to reduce the doorstep to discovery. It’s an aspirational building that will enable better science.’

See how powerful design and art can be?! It ain’t always just a pretty picture hanging on a wall…it can help reinforce and support a brand, and create a new depth of brand communication.

One of my favorite producers and dear friends, Alan Siegel of November Films: http://www.novemberfilms.com/, visited Omaha this week with an extremely gifted documentary filmmaker, Chris Taylor to unveil his new film called “Food Fight:” http://www.foodfightthedoc.com/ The viewing was sponsored by Alegent Healthcare and this was a true testament to how certain foods and food habits have affected our entire country in not so good ways. (diabetes, obesity, cancers, etc)

This is a brilliant film that I would strongly encourage everyone to see. It takes a look at how the American Agricultural food policies developed in the mid 20th century and how various food movements popped up (first starting in California and then spreading to place like Wisconsin, etc.) creating a “counter revolution against big agribusiness.” After WWII, there was a HUGE shift into convenience foods (dehydration, flash freezing, fast food, TV dinners, etc.) Twinkies were being sold as nourishing treats for growing children! Unreal! This movie is fascinating to say the least and you have no other option than to take action with your own food choices. This is more than just creating meal plans and making grocery lists. This is going to take a cultural shift in the way we think.

I am going out on a limb to say it is a life changing movie…it IS. Things you never thought were in your food. No more pink tasteless tomatoes! Fight for the quality of your food! We as a family are personally taking a pledge to CARE about where our food comes from. Buy Fresh, Buy Local is a group that you can contact, at least in the Omaha/NE metro area to find farm fresh whole/organic foods that are near you. http://buylocalnebraska.org/ and on a national level: http://foodroutes.org/

And lastly, you CAN taste a difference if you boil it down to just taste alone. Clean Plate is a whole food restaurant opening this August at the Empty Room: http://cleanplateomaha.wordpress.com/

Start a revolution with your food and your life!!

Although I started my night on a business mission to gather data and insights to build a audience segment model,  I ended up sidetracked and entertained for a couple hours…and by all things, a wiki.  Most of the bazillions of wikis I’ve been on are either straightforward reference/knowledge repositories or the purview of subject zealots, gamers and whatnots.  But this one, the Uncyclopedia, calls itself the content-free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.  OK maybe it’s the purview of those who worship at the altar of the weird and wacky, but it titillates and offends indiscriminately on all conceivable subjects.  Kind of like the consumer generated and more wacked brother of The Onion.

Image Credit: RadicalX

Uncyclopedia is hosted by the Uncyclomedia Foundation, a non-profitable organization that also hosts a range of other projects like UnTunes, UnBooks, UnQuotable, UnDictionary each with it’s own take on the absurd and fun.

I was almost rolling on the floor when I stumbled upon this featured “picture of the day” at almost the same instant that horrible Mr T infomercial for FlavorWave came on the TV I always seem to have on at night to provide background white noise while I’m working.

While I may not have completed what I set out to accomplish tonight, even my meandering surfing did result in some interesting insights that may just give me a unique take on some aspects of the audience profile model I’ll eventually build.

As for the blue tomatoes…“California should be glad for having a fruit of a different color that nobody else has.”

Oh…and check out “Spoiled Children’s Fund” forms to help overprivileged children. Classic.

Big Omaha from Mike Malone on Vimeo.

I walked away re-energized.  And not just by the speakers and the event (all of which were very well done due to the efforts of Jeff Slobotski, Silicon Prairie News and Dusty Davidson, Brightmix), but also because of the passion that I saw and felt among the 400+ attendees of the Big Omaha conference.  It was exciting to see so many creative thinkers united towards a creating a more exciting and progressive future right here in Omaha.  And it isn’t some City led effort to correct the misperceptions as a flyover state, the exciting vibe is coming from the community itself.  And that’s pretty cool!

The big question posed in the story is:

“As bloggers have increased in numbers, the number of journalists has significantly declined. In Washington alone, there are now 79% fewer DC-based employees of major newspapers than there were just few years ago. At the same time, Washington is easily the most blogged-about city in America, if not the world...How long can nearly 500,000 people who are gradually replacing whole swaths of journalists survive with no worker protections, no enforced ethics codes, limited standards, and, for most , no formal training?”

His stats were culled from the Technorati poll and Bureau of Labor Statistics, but based on the comments on the story, many bloggers question those stats or the presumptions of the dollars earned via blogging.

Thought provoking and obviously controversial, but worth a read because it makes you think about how the news model is rapidly changing around the world.

Potentially this puts Facebook side by side with Twitter in all of the desktop and mobile client applications where a lot of the real-time conversation is happening and lets it compete head-to-head with Twitter.

Yet few are talking about the real difference between Facebook and Twitter — like the fact that the services are fundamentally different in how connections are formed.   Facebook requires friending: Twitter doesn’t.  It only requires following. This is a big distinction and a difference in how much can be shared.  Getting Facebook users to share their data with a third party could be a major challenge based on the reaction to the TOS issue a few months back.

Twitter had 9 million users last month, while Facebook has 200 million members.  Yes…Twitter is the media darling of late. It has grown in popularity largely because of the all online services that have sprung up around it to help organize messages, such as TweetDeck, create mini communities around a single theme, such as StockTwits; and track trends about what people have posted.  But is Facebook really reacting to or worried about the popularity of Twitter or are they focused on something else…like what TIME is calling the AfterWeb?  AfterWeb (or after the browser) is about unbundling web-site-based business and allowing developers to turn them into a bunch of discrete services that can be delivered over a variety of devices (from PCs to Smartphones) far more easily than via the website.

I sure hope Facebook is being strategic and looking forward, because they are running some pretty big risks in this latest move because if people get too accustomed to accessing “the stream” off of their web site, the company will lose out on the advertising revenue.  And currently Facebook at least has a revenue model (albeit advertising), Twitter does not.

• We have a culture of collaboration.
• We have always been media neutral (well before everyone else started talking about it, we were living it.)
• Strategy that gets results drives this company.
• Advertising never had a bigger role than other solutions.
• There never was an “above/below the line” mentality.
• We solve problems, not sell stuff.
• Smart, insightful consulting is core to our brand.
• We are close to the customer.
• We have an entrepreneurial spirit driven by a passion for the business.
• We believe that with hard work, anything is possible.
• We believe everyone has a voice.
• We kiss change on the lips.

He loved this business and this company.  And it showed.  I was lucky enough to have worked with him on a few things in the 90s.  And I still have several notes and memos with kind words  from him in my files.  They meant a lot to me then…and now.

He will be missed.  But his legacy lives on.

Read more about Chuck at:

NYTimes>

AdWeek>

AdAge>

Omaha World Herald>

Twitter Users by Age
The majority of Twitter users are 35 years old or older. And 45-54 year olds are 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter, making them the highest indexing age group, followed by 25-34 year olds, who are 30 percent more likely. Look at the index of 65+.  It’s higher than 18-24.  In fact, in February, 5.2 percent of users were 65 or older.

And the older demos are the ones fueling the growth.  And growth it is.  After months of double-digit growth, traffic to Twitter.com jumped dramatically in March, growing a staggering 131% to 9.3 million visitors. That’s 5 million more visitors than in February!  Fueled in part by celebrity “tweeters” like Oprah, who just started,  as well as substantial mainstream media attention, Twitter ranked as the top-gaining property for the month of March according to comScore.

Twitter Unique US Visitors
The media focus on Twitter the last few months has been heavy. It seems you can’t get through a typical newscast anymore without some mention of Twitter.  Tweets are all over CNN. Some have incorporated Twitter into the live broadcasts.

It’s become part of our culture. Our vernacular.  Tweet. Tweet this.  ReTweet. It’s even become part of talk show monologues. David Letterman spent 5 minutes talking about Twitter (and of course making fun of Ashton Kutcher’s Twitter success) on his April 24th show. He called it the beginning of the end of civilization.

Like it or not, Twitter is changing many things,  including the way the news system operates, further blurring the lines between average citizens and journalists. Timely tweets from those on the scene of events like Flight 1549’s landing in the Hudson have turned average citizens into journalists.

Beyond the fact that social media services like Twitter and Facebook are becoming entwined with the business segment, is the fact that the knowledge to understand and use a micro-blogging service like Twitter is no longer confined to the young as a greater portion of the population has grown older using the Internet in the past 15 years.   And it could be that a comfort level with technology will continue to change the way new technologies leap the chasm to reach critical mass.

The bad news (other than its’ sad makeover) is that sales did indeed fall after the new packaging was on the market. 20% within just over a month. What does this equate to in losses? Tens of millions of dollars! ouch. (Let us now bow our heads in remorse that Tropicana had to learn the hard way, that DESIGN DOES MATTER.

The good news is that Tropicana decided pretty quickly to scrap the new packaging designed by Peter Arnell, and go back to the older design that worked for the consumers. Again, Why even MESS with a great idea??? If anyone was asked who the brand was that had the orange with the straw on the carton, most would know immediately that you are talking about Tropicana. That brand awareness is something you do not mess with. If you update something, you enhance and build upon what has worked for you in the past. Not make an extreme departure from it…neutralize it…DE-Brand it so to speak….

http://adage.com/article?article_id=135735

Received in the Business Multimedia category, the gold award signifies Smartargeting’s contribution to solid strategy, innovation and direct marketing. “This award is the result of our team’s integrated effort to strategically connect with our client’s target audience,” said Steve Kuegler, Managing Partner, Smartargeting. “We are proud to be recognized by KCDMA.”

KCDMA has more than 400 members and is dedicated to bringing quality educational opportunities to its members while improving the field of direct marketing.

Bozell Smartargeting offers state-of-the-art strategic database marketing solutions such as monitoring customer behavior, identifying emerging customer needs, developing and testing new products and targeting highest-potential prospects. Other solutions offered include scoring existing customers based on actual return on investment, matching type and frequency of communications to diverse target segments and providing precise market intelligence in the development of strategy.

More than 100 entries were received in 21 categories. The awards were judged by the Detroit Direct Marketing Association and 19 companies were awarded gold, silver and bronze AMBITS.

About Bozell
Bozell is an integrated marketing communications company with offices in Omaha and Kansas City. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

To participate in the contest, three designers were selected to submit a Web site redesign for Mikee, a specialty-sauce maker that has a line of award-winning kosher products, to communicate the nature and character of the business. Sorensen focused on the usability of the site in his design. The vision of the easy-to-navigate product site was to showcase the sauces and focus on getting buyers to purchase the products.

“It was exciting to see how others took the same information and interpreted it in their own way,” said Sorensen. “But more importantly, this was a great learning tool for the client and for the designers.”

To read the Design Makeover column featuring Sorensen, visit http://www.layersmagazine.com/design-makeover-make-it-saucy.html.