Fresh Thinking Starts Here

The Case For Dumping Tiger

Let's get this out of the way right from the start - I have no official opinion on the recent headlines surrounding Tiger Woods and his personal life.  In my opinion, his private life ought to be private.  He is a golfer who should be admired for his accomplishments on the golf course.  But off the golf course, he's just another human being.  I don't condone the activities he's being accused of, but I'm neither a friend nor relative of his and he owes me nothing (other than to put on a good show when he's in a golf tournament I've paid to watch).  And it is certainly not my place to judge him - especially when I have no personal knowledge of the real facts.

With that in mind, this post is purely business related - nothing personal here. 

From a purely business and marketing standpoint, though, I think there is a real opportunity for one of Tiger's major sponsors to step up and walk away from their relationship with him.  So far, all the sponsorship news has revolved around the universal support Tiger has received from his business partners.  Whether it be Nike, Gatorade, Accenture, AT&T, NetJets or any of the others, they have all come out to say that they are standing by Tiger in this crazy time in his life.

Makes sense at a macro level.  I mean, regardless of how many 'transgressions' Tiger has, he will always be a huge star.  And, it may be that, as Seth Meyers put it on Saturday Night Live, Woods' sponsors sticking with him is "a gesture that only means one thing -- women don't watch golf."

But, as the bad news keeps piling on and as more and more women come out with their Tiger affair allegations, the time may come where it is going to be harder and harder for the sponsors to stay the course.

That is why there are huge benefits to whichever sponsor decides to cut to the chase, break the party lines, and publicly walk away from Tiger right now.  Think about the press they would get, the gratitude they would get from women and pro-family activists everywhere.  Even if every other sponsor followed them, the first one to break the ranks would derive the vast majority of the benefits of doing so.

As far as I can tell, Tiger has about 11 major sponsors:

- Nike
- Gatorade
- Gillette
- NetJets
- Accenture
- Electronic Arts
- TLC Vision
- AT&T
- TAG Heuer
- Upper Deck
- Golf Digest

Of those, here are my top picks for who would get the most benefit by jumping off the Tiger Train(wreck):

- AT&T: First of all, I didn't even know Tiger was sponsored by them until I saw it on his website.  Plus, phones are not a 'male' thing and AT&T can use all the positive news it can get right now.  And if Verizon gets the iPhone next year, fuhgetaboudit!  Publicly drop Tiger and millions of women may automatically forgive all their AT&T dropped calls...

- TLC Vision: A Laser Eye center?  Really?  They ought to jump all over this (and save millions in unnecessary sponsorship dollars all at the same time!)

- Gillette: The "Best a Man Can Get" campaign is starting to get a bit stale anyways.  And the way it's been set up it is logical to rotate in new sports stars every now and then.  Why do men shave anyways?  To look good for women... And if the women have a preference on what razor we use, we're probably going to listen!  Not to mention the halo effect to P&G...

So, that's it.  Again, nothing personal for or against Tiger.  Just seems like the opportunity is there for someone to step up, do something unexpected, and reap the benefits...

How a Home Run Idea Strikes Out

Was doing some catalog reading last night in anticipation of the holidays and came across the following product in the Brookstone catalog:

Pretty neat idea, I thought, upon first glance.  I definitely know some sports fans (not Red Sox fans, mind you, but I guess they had to choose one for the pic...) who might enjoy this.

After taking a closer look, though, it dawned on me that this might not be the best gift after all...  You see, by placing the Home score on the left and the Visitor score on the right, they have virtually guaranteed that for the majority of the day your team will be losing - and most of the time, losing VERY badly.  Right now in the picture the Red Sox are losing 18-6.  Just think how depressing it would be for the fan who owns this every day when they are getting ready to leave the office at 4:59!  Talk about a design flaw!  Swing and a miss!

On second thought, maybe this would be a good gift for a Red Sox fan! :) (Sorry Tom...)

Question Assumptions. Check Facts. Conclude Responsibly.

Faulty Assumptions + Inertia = Group Think Gone Bad.

While I'm sure that this has always been a problem inherent to human nature, the relatively recent boon of social media has caused it to explode.  Here's a quick synopsis of how it seems to work:

1 - someone of relatively high esteem to a certain subgroup of the marketing community addresses a topic, provides his/her perspective of the relevant facts, and makes a bold and attention grabbing conclusion (usually about how ridiculous the actions of other marketers in a certain situation have been).

2 - the subgroup of folks who hold the high regard for the source then jump on the bandwagon, praise the conclusions, and add their own unique spin so that they appear to add value.

3 - subgroups of marketers who then hold this broader subgroup in high regard repeat step 2.

4 - the cycle repeats, with the individual in step 1 broadening their reach to the outer subgroups and the entire story gaining more credibility and greater acceptance as fact.

OK, so it doesn't always spin that far out of control - but the steps listed above are very often not too far from the truth. 

So, here's the problem... What if the 'facts' laid out in step 1 by the originator are not facts at all?  What if the 'facts' are really assumptions - and faulty ones at that?  What if these assumptions were made to conveniently fit a pre-conceived conclusion?  (not maliciously, per se, but many times it just seems to work out that way...).  The end result is that through the supposed enlightened debate that originates from the original thesis and conclusion, the originating underlying assumptions gain a de facto status as fact.

Often, the folks who jump on the conversation bandwagon never stop to question the 'facts' (assumptions).  That, of course, is the boring part of the whole exercise.  They are all too happy, though, to skip to the end and weigh in on the conclusions (most often, again, related to someone else's obvious mistakes and the smarter, more strategic, more creative ways they would have handled the situation.)

This, my friends, is dangerous and is indicative of a greater problem within the marketing community.  As past BMC speaker Kevin Clancy eloquently points out in the title of his last book..."Your Gut Is Still Not Smarter Than Your Head."

Here's a recent example of how something like this plays out:  I belong to a special interest group on branding within the American Marketing Association.  A topic was created with the title: Another Brand Bites The Dust.  It was a conversation-starter related to the recent news that a deal to sell SAAB had fallen through.  The main question was 'What really killed the brand?"

The immediate chatter focused on how GM was to blame for taking this successful brand and killing it.  Then the storm began of add-on comments which aimed to pinpoint exactly which stupid actions by GM resulted in taking this once wildly successful brand and running it into the ground.  They marketed to the mean, they didn't innovate, they priced it too high, etc...

This conversation went on the majority of the day with not one single person questioning the original assumption that SAAB was once a successful brand.  In order for GM to 'kill' it, the implication was that SAAB had been a success until it was taken over and run into the ground by the US auto giant.

The only problem is...that isn't true.  The reality is that, prior to GM acquiring 50% of SAAB in 1989, SAAB was a perennial money-loser.  In fact, prior to GM, SAAB had been experiencing heavy financial losses for nearly a decade and in 1989 was forced to shut one of its plants.

And so, a early offering of faulty assumptions, which quickly became accepted as fact, gained steam and generated a days worth of conversation and conclusions which stemmed from a flawed starting point. 

My fear is that with all the 'experts' these days (many of whom, nay, most of whom bestow that title upon themselves!) the marketing community as a whole has become a bit lazy.  Of course, it is easier to accept things as truths - but it is also far more dangerous.  It happens in popular culture, in intellectual discourse, and, perhaps most dangerously, in the way businesses are run and decisions are made. 

Question assumptions.  Check facts.  Conclude responsibly.

Amex Embraces Social Media...IN PRINT!

I was spending some time catching up on my Fortune Small Business magazines last night, when I came across the following ad for American Express:

The really interesting thing?  When was the last time you saw a print ad that actually dedicated a significant amount of space to a NEGATIVE comment from a consumer?

We spend a lot of time talking about how the world of Web 2.0 requires for brands to give up some control over the conversation and develop the necessary thick skin that allows for open and honest dialogue - not all of which will be positive.  It's one thing, however, to be ok with folks making negative comments about your brand on Twitter or Facebook - an entirely different thing to actually highlight those comments and present them for the world as an acceptable opposing point of view.

Not only does Amex present the opposing point of view in this ad, it actually gives it equal space to the positive comment AND gives credit to the person and company responsible for the comment.  At no point does the ad disparage the negative comment or try to actively rebut it (of course, it is implied that they agree with the other POV).

Then they ask for the reader to check out all the points at goldforbusiness.com and make up his/her own mind.  A great example of leveraging the learnings from social media into a more traditional media format.  I like the approach.  How about you?

Brand ManageCamp 2009 - Recap and Slideshow

via www.flickr.com

OK - so it's been over a week since Brand ManageCamp 2009 ended...but it's never too late for a recap, right????

What a fantastic couple of days we had in Las Vegas. The weather was perfect, the hotel (The Signature at MGM Grand) was terrific and we had 220+ fun, intelligent, insightful brand marketers who had come together to learn from our speakers and each other.  The theme, as always, was Fresh Thinking Starts Here - and I have no doubt that most everyone left with at least a few Fresh Thoughts to get things moving in new and better directions upon returning to the office!

Guy Kawasaki (best-selling author of "The Art of the Start" and "Reality Check;" founder of Alltop.com) got things started off on the right foot with his topic on Intrapreneurism. What better person than Guy to discuss lessons learned from entrepreneurs and what they mean for folks who are trying to bring about change within the larger organizations for whom they work?

John Gerzema (best-selling author of "The Brand Bubble" and Chief Insights Officer of Y&R) then brought us up to speed on the looming crisis in brand valuations and what we can do to help avoid it.

Amber MacArthur (commandn.tv ; ambermac.com) then lit up the stage with her bright personality and her insights on what is coming next in Web 3.0 and how we can best prepare to not get left behind. She also got the whole room singing the chorus to a KISS song - although I'm still not sure how! :)

Legendary marketing guru Philip Kotler followed with a look inside the findings from his lates book "Chaotics." In addition to teaching us how to better plan in an era marked by regular turbulence, he also delved into how to get consumers to love our brands and even touched on the importance of reaching consumer's on a spiritual level that goes beyond functions and emotions. Not only was Phil fantastic to work with, he then stayed the entire length of the conference - taking copious notes from the front row and interacting with our attendees during breaks and meals!

After lunch on Day 1, Simon Bray from ?What If! gave the audience an Innovative Kick in the Pants. His combination lecture/workshop created a buzz and had attendees raving. Brilliant! (as they might say in Simon's native Great Britain)

The next session was a very interesting panel discussion on Marketing ROI led by best-selling author Kevin Clancy ("Your Gut Is Still Not Smarter Than Your Head;" Chairman of Copernicus Marketing Consulting). Kevin and his panelists (Chuck Feltz, Senior Partner of Engage Consulting; Angela Geiger, Chief Strategy Officer of the Alzheimer's Association; Leslie Joseph, VP Consumer Research and Consumer Affairs for Constellation Wines).  It was great to hear real-world stories of how marketers are implementing changes that result in increased ROI!

The sessions of Day 1 were then brought to an energetic close by Jeremy Gutsche (best-selling author of "Exploiting Chaos;" founder of Trendhunter.com).  Jeremy showed us how to leverage cutting edge techniques to stimulate innovative creativity, generate breakthrough ideas, identify 'clusters of inspiration' and, ultimately, unlock cool in a way that the competition cannot.  Plus, he was just plain fun.  A great way to end the day and lead into another fun activity - cocktails!

Amazingly, after a full day of insights, a cocktail reception and a night on their own in Las Vegas, we still had a full room at 8am on Day 2 to see Jonathan Salem Baskin (author of "Branding Only Works on Cattle," Advertising Age columnist, Information Week blogger and creator of Dim Bulb).  Jonathan gave us lots to chew on (boo, hiss, bad pun tied back to the 'Cattle' reference.  I'm so disappointed in myself...) with his 10 Rules for Branding in a Post-Branded World.  Jonathan challenged the audience to do things differently and to fight the tide of meaningless advertising to actually use marketing to get people to do things!

Second up on Day 2 was best-selling author Charlene Li ("The Groundswell" and The Altimeter Group) who taught us to focus on the strategy when approaching social media as opposed to getting caught up in the actual technologies of the day.  Sound advice!

Michael Dunn (author of "The Marketing Accountability Imperative" and Chairman of Prophet) then took an interesting approach to an ROI topic, focusing on how you can sort through the clutter of metrics, measurement, and analytical options to get to the real end goal - driving better continuous decision making and improved in-market performance across the marketing value chain.

We then shifted into the final piece of the event.  With tons of actionable insights under our belt on how to better connect with customers and grow our brands, our last two speakers focused on softer (albeit no less important) topics.

Rick Smith, founder of World50 and best-selling author of "The Leap,"covered the 3 steps we need to follow in order to unlock the potential we have within us as well as the potential within those we lead.  It was an inspirational story that had many in the room thinking hard about where careers were headed and how best to move them in the right direction.  Plus - his slides were produced by the same folks who did Al Gore's!  Pretty cool.

The conference was then brought to a close by ex-FBI agent, spy-hunter, and author Joe Navarro ("What Every BODY Is Saying") who showed us the importance of non-verbal communication and how best to recognize the tells of those we are talking with as well as how to manage our own tells.  It was fascinating content delivered in an engaging way.  Plus - being in Vegas - he left us with a couple of tips for how to read people at the poker tables!  (unfortunately, I still lost money - but I'm guessing that was 'user error').

I am so grateful to all of the speakers and, especially, all of the fantastic folks who took two days out of their busy schedules to join us for Brand ManageCamp 2009.  I had a great time and am already looking forward to more Fresh Thinking in 2010!

EXPLOITING CHAOS - free chapter download from BMC2009 speaker Jeremy Gutsche

via www.exploitingchaos.com

We love it when Brand ManageCamp speakers come out with new books right before the conference. It means we get to be among the first to hear about their new work right from the source! This one is even more special as BMC2009 speaker Jeremy Gutsche is making the first chapter of his new book - 'Exploiting Chaos' - available for FREE download!

It's an amazing book that looks like none you've ever seen before and is filled with '150 ways to spark innovation during times of change.' I think you'll agree, this is the perfect time for it!

Enjoy!

http://www.trendhunter.com/images/EXPLOITING-CHAOS-Sample.pdf

Fresh Thinking Moment #2 - Simon Bray (?What If! Innnovation)

In this second installment of our Fresh Thinking Moment series, Simon Bray (Head of Capabilities for ?What If! Innovation and speaker at the upcoming Brand ManageCamp 2009) explains his views on 'Fresh Thinking.'  Highlights include:

• The need to get outside your comfort zone by going to new and different places for inspiration as well as the need to challenge existing rules and assumptions
• The 'Fresh Thinking' behind Hyundai's Assurance promotion
• How to generate inspiration by structuring new and different activities into your life.  Simon's own examples include joining a story-telling group and getting together with a bunch of folks he doesn't know in NYC to only speak French with each other (and none of them are native or fluent French speakers!)

Simon is a brilliant guy (and he's British - so everything he says sounds smart anyway) with some fantastic ideas on 'Fresh Thinking.' Check out the video below to hear them directly from Simon himself.  And for more Simon, be sure to join us at Brand ManageCamp 2009 in Las Vegas on October 5-6!

Fresh Thinking Moment #1 - John Gerzema

This is a new feature I am really excited to bring to the blog.  Through the Brand ManageCamp conferences, as well as our other activities, I am blessed to come into contact with so many brilliant thinkers.  Some of them are authors/speakers, others are just visionaries from the corporate world.

Starting now, and recurring as often as I can, I am going to be posting short videos of these folks - all answering the same three questions:

1 - What does "Fresh Thinking" mean to you?
2 - What is a recent example you have seen of "Fresh Thinking?"
3 - Where do you get the inspiration for your own "Fresh Thinking?"

So, without any further ado, here is the first installment of what we are calling the "Fresh Thinking Moment."  Take a peek as John Gerzema (Best-selling author of "The Brand Bubble," Chief Insights Officer of Y&R and Brand ManageCamp 2009 speaker) talks about the importance of focusing on the ever-changing consumer, Frito Lay's big win with adapting promotion cycles to pay cycles, and the inspiration he gets from his tweeps.

Enjoy!

How Simple Observation Can Take A Good Idea To Great

 

Here's a story of an idea almost executed very well.  Last night my wife had a hunkering for pasta and so off the family went to our local Macaroni Grill.  It's been a while since we have been there and, I must admit, the restaurant was far nicer than I had remembered or the name does it justice.

(Macaroni Grill has always felt 'factory-like' and has never done it for me in terms of inspiring thoughts of delicious Italian cuisine.  In that space, The Olive Garden does far better in communicating taste and ambiance via a brand name...but that's neither here nor there for this post...moving on...)

As our family consists of my wife and I and our two young daughters (ages 5 1/2 and 2), the existence of a kids menu is always appreciated - especially when it includes some healthy options.  As you can see above, we were pleasantly surprised by Macaroni Grill's offering on this point.  Two fun looking kids menus were placed in front of our children.  They included games and stuff and had the above kids menu on the back cover.  We immediately noticed that, in addition to the normal kids fare, they also offered a Chicken and Broccoli dish.  Perfect!  Kudos to them!

We ordered the kids some milk - which came in kids cups with straws, so the Macaroni Grill team clearly understands that kids' drinking needs are different than adults and that a sturdy plastic cup with lid and straw is mandatory to avoid the spills and messes sure to come without them.

However, once the kids meals came, it was clear that the understanding of kids' eating behaviors stopped with the drinks...(to be fair - this is fairly common across most restaurants and chains, so I'm not trying to pick on Macaroni Grill here - just that we were eating there last night and it became a 'teachable moment' :))

Notice a couple of things within this picture:

1 - The fork my 2 yr old has to use is about the size of her head.  Each forkful brought with it the danger of her puncturing the back of her throat.  When we asked the server for a smaller fork - perhaps a salad fork even - she let us know they only carry one size.

2 - The plate is a bread plate that we portioned out the meal onto for her (same for our 5 year old, not in the picture...).  Those with kids know that they aren't the most coordinated when it comes to forking food - hence a bowl or some sort of plate with a raised side is helpful to give them something to push against.  Would help avoid a lot of the mess you see.

3 - OK, you can't tell this one by the picture, but the Chicken with Broccoli dish came as it would have for an adult.  A full size chicken breast and several large pieces of broccoli.  Not exactly kid friendly.  So...before my wife and I could start to eat our meals, we had to cut up the kids meals and do some portion control.

Please keep in mind that this post is not meant to be a whiny customer service complaint - although that is something I reserve the right to do at a later time.  The key point here is that some simple consumer observation by any restaurant chain would quickly recognize that kids eat differently than adults and have very different needs.  (quick props to past BMC speaker Scott Williams, now CMO of Morgans Hotel Group and past Chief Creative Officer of Starwood Hotels, who is a HUGE proponent of the virtues of consumer observation).

Such observations would most likely lead to the following 'innovations':

1 - Kid-friendly eating wares that extend beyond just plastic cups.  Simple observation would dictate that any establishment that wants to be kid-friendly should have some kids plates/bowls and kids utensils ready.

2 - Kid portion sizes.  Has anybody NOT heard about the problem of childhood obesity?  Kid portions at restaurants should be just that - sized for kids.  Not just blander adult meals.

3 - Kid food sizing.  Watch any family with young kids and the first thing they will do when a plate of food comes is start cutting it down to size.  Why not just deliver the meals already cut to bite sized pieces?  Save the parents some time and effort and show them that you actually understand the difficulties of eating out with young children.

Just one easy example of how some simple consumer observations can take a good idea to great.  I cannot stress enough the value of just watching your consumers interact with your products/services.  If you haven't lately, start planning right now for when you will!

Business Brandicitis

I was having a conversation with one of my favorite authors, brand-gurus, and all-around-great-guys, Tom Asacker (acleareye.com ; A Little Less Conversation ; A Clear Eye For Branding) the other day and somehow we got on the topic of appendicitis.  Of course, we both immediately made the link to brands (what else?) and the following blog post is the result.  I really like it - we (Tom and I) hope you do too...

Business Brandicitis

Have you ever wondered why virtually every time you hear of someone being treated for appendicitis, it turns out to be an emergency case? 

This happened to my father years ago.  He hadn’t been feeling well for a couple of days and the next thing I knew he was being rushed to the hospital with an appendix that was ready to explode.

Why does it seem that your appendix is either fine, or moments away from bursting and spreading deadly toxins throughout your system?  Does it go off like a time bomb, with no warning?  Does it all happen so fast that there is no chance of catching it earlier, if only to be able to go through the unavoidable surgery in a less frantic and harried state?

Not really.  In fact, the symptoms of appendicitis usually develop over a period of up to 48 hours.

The problem is that the early warning signs are often easily explained away by other, more benign theories.  The stomach pain is typically attributed to something we ate, stress or constipation, which seems to make sense based on our generally poor diets, and sedentary, stressful lives.  And so we allow ourselves to CORRELATE the pain we are experiencing with the things we’ve done that help explain it away.

However, CORRELATION is not CAUSATION, and so many cases of appendicitis are misdiagnosed until the pain becomes so severe and the patient is so sick that the easier explanations no longer make sense.  Unfortunately, by that time the only answer is emergency surgery (which is never as good as nonemergency surgery).

Of course, this CORRELATION/CAUSATION error is made all the time in business (think GM). The difference is that with appendicitis, you will figure out your mistake within 48 hours.  With business, you could end up hiding the real issues for years while you explain them away with any number of convenient theories like the economy, the weather, the shift in media consumption, the political climate, the uninformed consumers, etc.

The actual cause of this behavior is, most often, a lack of perspective.  We become so overconfident in our understanding of our businesses that our brains automatically fill in the blanks with the most logical and expedient answers given our experience and history.  Without the benefit of a new lens or an outside perspective, everything can be made to make sense within the context of the most palatable of explanations.

Eventually, however, the organization’s brand will burst.  And when it does, the options left on the table will be few and unappetizing.

So what can you do?  The answer is easy - ensure that you are frequently soliciting points of view from people who are not so close to, and so vested in, your business that they will avoid the tough questions. 

In our personal lives, we have doctors.  Most of us don’t see them until it is too late - we are already sick - but we know we should be visiting them at least once a year.  They do tests and ask questions and aren’t swayed by the fact that you’ve felt a certain way for so long that it has begun to feel like normal.  They also derive no benefit by overlooking or explaining away potential underlying problems.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to surround yourself with an army of consultants.  However, you must allow your business, your brands, to be inspected by trusted allies who live outside the fold.  People who will ask the tough questions, administer the right tests, and not look for the easiest and least painful explanations. 

For, in issues of health – both personal and business – it is best to address small problems early than big problems late.  Sure, saving a patient with appendicitis has become routine.  But saving an organization with brandicitis is far from it.