Fresh Thinking Starts Here

Branding Guru Gets Millions of Faithful Fans Fired

In my humble opinion, this is not one of Seth's blogging gems: "Take the ball and go home."  In it he advises folks who work for bosses who yell at them to:

"Call her on her behavior (not who she is, but what she does). "I'm sorry, but when you talk to me like that, I'm unable to do good work. I'll be in my office if you need me." Then walk out, not in a huff, but with a measure of respect for the person (not the behavior)."

Hmmm...worst economic conditions most folks in the workforce have EVER experienced....thousands of good folks getting laid off every day....people as stressed as ever.  May not be the best point in time to choose to turn your back on your bossy boss when they take a tone with you.

To Seth's credit, he does make the ambiguous disclaimer:

"It might even get you fired. But it will probably save your job and your sanity." 

Powerpoint on Steroids - Canson Paper Show

Met some very cool folks from a company called Canson.  They've got a product coming out called Paper Show - and if you ever present Powerpoint decks to anyone, you've got to check this out.  I'm no technology genius, so I have no idea HOW it works - but now that I've seen it work, I think it's great.

Basically, you print out your presentation on the special interactive Paper Show paper.  You then use a special camera pen (see pic above) which talks to your computer via a bluetooth usb connection.  Then you can write on your presentation deck paper, and the writing is automatically added to the Powerpoint file.  By tapping on different aspects of a pallet on the paper, you can easily create shapes, change line thickness, change colors, etc...  You can use this with a blank presentation so you have a digital whiteboard that will save your team's brainstorms.  You can also use it to instantaneously annotate your presentations to incorporate feedback, make changes, record notes, or just draw funny pictures - the sky's the limit!

In the pics above, the user has drawn the two ovals around the words she wanted to highlight.  You can then see that the ovals automatically show up on the screen for all to see. 

Very powerful tool - I encourage you to check it out.  Not sure of the pricing - but I think it is something very reasonable - like $199 (don't quote me on that...).

After 110 Years, Heinz Ketchup Package Finally Looks The Part

 I really can't make this stuff up.  According to an article by Emily Fredrix at the AP, after 110 years Heinz has finally made the tough decision to actually put a picture of a tomato on their ketchup packaging.  The tomato will replace the ever-popular and much loved....you guessed it...gherkin pickle.  Of course, there are no - and never have been any - gherkin pickles in the ketchup.  So, why was this such a tough decision that took over a century to make?

The director of ketchup for the company, was referenced in the article as saying:

"The pickle is an integral part of the Heinz company story, and the decision to retire it wasn't easy, she said, even though there are no pickles in Heinz ketchup.

Founder H.J. Heinz used a "pickle pin" to attract attention to his booth at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. The pins were popular, and the branding stuck."

And what's the rationale for this controversial decision?  According to the director:

"We really felt that the tomato is the hero of ketchup, and it was the right time to make the switch on our label."

Evidently, testing was done to validate this decision:

"In testing, mothers — the target buyers — said having the tomato on the label helped them make the connection with the product's main ingredient."

Having worked in large consumer packaged goods companies, I can understand how this kind of stuff happens.  Believe me, I've been there!  But when you look objectively, from the outside in, one can't help but think: "No Duh!"  Was it really a big surprise that a tomato would more accurately communicate what was in a bottle of ketchup than a gherkin pickle?

The lesson - sometimes we can get WAY to close to what we work on.  Things that are very obvious from the outside become very murky and complex and scary when your world revolves around the nuances of your business.  And, especially in this economy, but even if you've got lots of money sitting around, not everything should need to be tested.  If you can't make the leap that a tomato is better than a pickle on ketchup, imagine how long and how much it is going to cost to actually make a difficult decision...

Neuromarketing and the Future of Advertising: Martin Lindstrom's Buyology Symposiums Coming to New York and San Francisco

I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this.  Back when Martin Lindstrom spoke at Brand ManageCamp in 2005, he told me all about this new study he was working on that revolved around the concept of Neuromarketing.  Basically, he was using the latest and greatest brain imaging equipment to get to the bottom of what people are thinking as they interact with products, services, messages, advertising, packaging, etc...  The end goal - learn the truths (and lies) behind why people buy.  Back then he was referring to this multi-year, multi-million dollar, worldwide study as Brandscan.

Since then, it evolved into what is now known as Buyology.  The book was launched in October and has been residing on best-seller lists ever since.  Martin has been featured on all the big tv shows - like the TODAY Show, ABC News, CNBC, etc... - and the book has received some really great reviews.

We now have the privilege of working with Martin as we, in partnership with Advertising Age, are producing two exclusive full day Buyology Symposiums.  The two events will be held:

New York, March 26
San Francisco, March 31

These are the only two US Symposiums!  The full day format will allow Martin to take attendees FAR deeper and wider into the findings and (most importantly) the implications for marketers and advertisers.  It's a must-see for anyone interested in understanding where the future is going with respect to advertising and marketing.

All the info on the symposiums are available at http://www.adage.com/buyology

Hope to see you there!