Goodby Says Ad Industry Is A Bunch “Irrelevant Award Chasers”

Posted on June 24, 2009

Jeff Goodby’s rant in Adweek about “ghost ads” and Cannes Lions basically speaks for itself.

I understand his position…actually, I think that I kind of agree with it.

I suppose the bigger question for me is why clients don’t buy the “ghost ad” work? Why is the best work…the work that doesn’t run? Is is too edgy? Disruptive? Too risky?

Gaming the “Awards Game” doesn’t surprise me. Creative thinkers will always find a way to game the system.

The tragedy is that some of the best work…never gets to see the light of day.

Big Hunch

Posted on June 17, 2009

After spending more time with Hunch, I began to realize its power…not as a search engine…or as a social network…but as a “recommendation engine“. As more members join, the power of its crowd-sourced wisdom grows exponentially. It becomes a super-Digg focused not on what’s cool…but rather on what matters. If the need to get information to make decisions is at the core of most Internet searches (as I believe they are)…then Catarina Fake and company are really onto something.
Hunch is fun when you are asking a question like “should I ride my bike to work”…but it becomes incredibly powerful when it is answering the question “where should I get my car serviced?” or “what management consulting firm should I hire?”.
I am still not certain how they will monetize Hunch…other than by providing paid subscriptions or perhaps advertising opportunities (but that’s just a hunch).

Hunch, Just May Be Onto Something

Posted on June 16, 2009

Hunch.com launched yesterday. The brainchild of Flickr founder Catarina Fake, Hunch is a mash-up of social networking and a decision-making algorithm from MIT’s media lab. After playing around with Hunch for a few hours, we have a hunch that Hunch just might be onto something. Both the LA Times and Fast Company agree.
It is a community…that is centered on a single common need…that gets smarter with every question posed.  Sounds a bit like one of Peacock Nine’s Customer Cabinets.  BuzzSponge anyone?

From BING…to Hunch—interest in crowd-sourced decision-making is warming up.
We couldn’t be happier about that.

Brandrud Patient Chair Rocks

Posted on June 16, 2009

I just returned from NeoCon about fifteen minutes ago. While I was there, I checked out the furniture company Brandrud, which was recently acquired by Herman Miller.
Of all of the exciting new pieces I saw throughout NeoCon, I was most excited by Brandrud’s Nala patient chair. I love it not for the aesthetics…but because it was a piece of furniture that was so clearly designed with the customer’s need in mind. (In this case “customer”= patient + nurse).
With the pull of a lever, the Nala chair rocks to a 60% angle. This is a godsend for both nurse and patient as it moves the patient’s center of gravity forward…making it easier to help them get up out of their chair. Similarly, the rocking function can help a nurse ease a patient gently back into the seating position.
Oh, and beyond that, the Nala’s arms rotate outwards (like a backwards Aeron chair) which provides the healthcare professional with easier access to the patient.
God, I love new thinking…particularly when it is with the customer’s needs in mind. Exciting.
If you are around Chicago this week, you should pop in to NeoCon to take a peek.

PS- You may also want to check out the Steelcase showroom. As always, there is some exciting stuff there too…and it is just beautiful.

Wisdom In Tea Leaves…and Coffee Grounds

Posted on October 30, 2008

 

A few weeks back I picked up a business card sized slip of paper while at Starbucks.  It challenged me “Have an idea for us?” and then pointed me to MyStarbucksIdea.com.  Part virtual suggestion box, part social network..I think that the concept has merit.  (Actually, Dell proved that it does…Perhaps Michael and Howard are golfing buddies?)  Far too many companies see their customers as an unintelligent herd and discount their wisdom accordingly.  Sure, there will be work involved shifting the grains of wheat from the chaff…but one grain can eventually yield a field of opportunity.  Also, Dell and Starbucks have to make sure that they respond to the community…otherwise the “wishes” will stop flowing and (even worse) Starbucks/Dell will be accused of not listening.

Of course it is no surprise that this concept resonates with us.  We are big believers in leveraging technology to increase customer feedback and open-source innovation.  After all, we have been creating Customer Cabinets (customer advisory communities) since 2004. Just click on the people figures in the scholar’s cabinet to learn more.  I know, I know…shameless plug….but WE ARE BIG BELIEVERS IN THIS KIND OF STUFF.  That said, we believe that the idea of a “suggestion box” just doesn’t take the concept far enough.

Some have roundly dismissed Starbuck’s idea-site–but I think that they are making progress in the right direction.  At the very least, mystarbucksidea.com is a great way to signal to the world that Starbucks is valuing its customers a bit more than it has in recent years.  Perceived hubris and “inside the beltway” thinking hurt Starbucks in recent years…refocusing on the beans and the customer experience will be key to its evolution in the years ahead.

No new idea is perfect.  That said, the fact that Starbucks conceived and launched MyStarbucksIdea so quickly should be lauded….it very easily could have existed on a silver platter, with rose petals and glitter…unexecuted.

BTW…This is an interesting piece by Forrester on the movement toward online customer feedback/innovation communities.

Pass It On

Posted on October 6, 2008

We are big believers in “movement making”…and how, one, beautifully simple idea can ignite the masses.

Our most recent find is Obama Baton.  This idea is a nice one.  Leverage the kinship that marathoners feel to spread the Obama-virus in a visually stirring, emotionally poignant and creative way.

What is even more impressive is the timeline for this project…from concept to community…in about ten days.  It is amazing what a shared passion and the courage to “just jump” can enable one to achieve.

 

 

Nice job El Gaffney, Clay Parker Jones, Kevin Panke & Hustlewood.

The RedBall Project

Posted on September 9, 2008

Kurt Perschke is creating a one man revolution about awareness, art…and how adding a bit of absurdity into our daily “public” lives can free us up to think about what it means to PLAY (and why we may be holding back).  Perschke’s 250 lb inflatable ball has made an impact on humans as far afield as Portland, OR and Sidney, Australia.  Well…(drumroll)……The RedBall project has come come to Chicago.  Check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you do search out the ball, play close attention to how others interact with it.  They tell me that kids tend to “dive in” and bound into, touch, squeeze and laugh about the piece…whereas  many adults seem to try to ignore it.  

 What does that say about our license to “play”?

Clawing Out A Unique Experience

Posted on September 2, 2008

How do you transform the speculative (and rapidly disappearing) craft of lobstering into a uniquely profitable experience?  Take one part Nantucket Nectars, two parts Vineyard Vines, add a pinch of You Tube add the personality of a blog, a bit of gambling and a dollup of Community…and presto, you’ve got Catch A Piece Of Maine.

For $3,000 you get a lobster trap for the year…and everything that it hauls in.  You pick the captain you want to “team up with”…and you are off.  They promise you a minimum of 52 lobsters…but what you get is a unique taste of The Experience Economy and a lesson in the power of a value added business model.

Seth Godin would be so proud.

From video clips from your captain, to maps that show the location of your trap on that particular day, to “all the fixins”, these two brothers have created a niche business that is built less upon overnight seafood delivery (there are a number of Maine companies who do that) and more about “getting your feet wet” in a unique industry that takes place in a special part of the country.

Finally, this approach increases affinity for and awareness of an industry that is under fire.  A number of factors from climate change to “over lobstering” have pushed this craft to the brink.  Catch A Piece of Maine is not just a fascinating “change the game” approach to the lobster business, but it just also may help bring positive waves of change to an evaporating American craft business.

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