Clarity

Posted on July 23, 2008

Sometimes one picture is worth 1000 words.

Note: image found on ffffound.com

An Unusual Customer Event

Posted on July 22, 2008

What do you do when you need to grab a quick bite…and you are stuck in a field…in Romania?

Had the architects planned for this?  Ethnographies?  Ride-alongs?

On Ideas

Posted on July 22, 2008

ZeFrank on the preciousness of ideas.  

I think that he is onto something.  

Ideas.  Use them or lose them.

A good reminder.

Design…That’s Practically Criminal

Posted on July 21, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The planners in Loeben, Austria have just erected this beautiful design experiment.  The design is certainly breakthrough.  Let’s hope that it helps convince the residents, not to break out.

 Yes.  This is a jail.

 Can you believe it?

Here are a few more photos of what has to be the most luxurious correctional facility on the planet.

 

A New Realty Reality?

Posted on July 21, 2008

What if…2000 reasonably astute Americans could tell you what your home would sell for +/-2%…more than a month before closing?  It could happen.  Actually, it already has.

I am big on mashups and bullish on prediction markets.  In the wake of the mortgage meltdown, Realius and Zip Realty have combined forces to create “Price Me Now”.  Think one part Google, two parts Zillow.  This prediction market asks average Americans to guess the sales price of home in Boston and Bay Area.  Game players who most successfully pick the sales prices get IQ points.  Playing off of one’s desire for “cred”, Zip and Realius are reaping the rewards of unparalleled data.  Then of course, the educated real estate buyer can take advantage of Zip to buy said property outright.

 Its an alliance the provides even more power to the people….at a time when those in real estate are feeling particularly powerless.  Realtor beware.  James Surowieki would be so proud!  If the rollout goes as planned, “Price Me Now” may be coming to your neck of the woods.

Google is certainly paying attention.  Care to map out their next move?

 

The Network Effect (on us)

Posted on July 14, 2008

Albert-Laszlo Barabasi’s book left its mark on us back in 2002.  We still think that it is a pivotal work that is worth a read if you’ve missed it.  His theories have played out in Google, LinkedIn, Facebook and Ning.

It was Barabasi’s work that first led us to James Surowiecki and The Wisdom of Crowds.  Our Customer Cabinets(TM) were the end result.  Why should anyone “rent” access to a sample of their customers after all? It is far more effective to sponsor a community of customers and potentials…and tap into them constantly for advice and insight.  Add a robust database on the back-end and you have a strategic asset that just gets smarter about each respondent with every question you ask.  Infinite Learning.  Awesome Advantage.

Now we are on to the next application of these important theories about networks.  For years we have used Mind-Mapping in focus groups.  Get ready for Mind-Mapping on steroids.  We are excited…and the new product’s launch is just around the corner.

Stay tuned.

Holy Gruel? (and what about “norms”)

Posted on July 14, 2008

Last week there was an interesting story on NPR that highlighted the inadequacies of Nielsen’s media measures. The journalist’s suspicion is that a methodology based upon three, major television stations and diary entries may not be up to the challenges that today’s media borage presents.  (Not even NetRatings really helps them close the gap).

She posits that the entity best positioned to provide the Holy Grail of media measurement…is your cable company with their DVR technology.  Those set top boxes measure everything…with even more to come*.  A number of  entreprenurial ventures are stepping up to fill the void.  Two specialty firms were mentioned; TNS and *TRA—-and then of course…Google.

The radio story really is worth a listen.  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92442904

This whole rapidly changing media measurement scenario, leads me to a larger question (a bit of a tangent, I admit)….

With the media landscape changing so rapidly, how can “norms” from a decade ago still be valid?  Marketers always want to test their creative via “established norms”.  I know that this Facebooked, blogged-out, Googley-gooked world is VERY different from what it was just four years ago.  Relying on “established norms decades in the making just flies in the face of logic for me. 

What do you think?

 

Success vs. Significance

Posted on June 16, 2008

On Saturday I listened to a speech given by Deepak Jain, the Dean of NWU’s Kellogg School of Management. There was one morsel that I just can’t shake.  It got me bounding out of bed this morning and charging into work.  Jain explained to the recent graduates that they now had all of the tools that they needed to be a “success”, but then he challenged them to make an impact beyond the material to the social & global.  He challenged them to be “significant”.

When I think of those individuals who have become “successful”, the list is long.  When I think of those who are “significant” it is a whole different matter.  It is a far more select group ranging from Ghandi and Eleanor Roosevelt to Jim Henson, Steve Jobs and Walt Disney.

Who is on your list of “significant” individuals?  Let’s build a running list.  Weeks from now we can pull it apart and distill it down into the common essence.  It can be a roadmap to follow. Fuel for inspiration, aspiration and perspiration.  It can be a North Star to guide us.

Cause two things are for certain; none of us are here to just to pick up a paycheck, and all of us have limited time to make the kind of difference that we are uniquely armed to make together.

Who is on your “significant” list?

« Previous Page — Next Page »

©2009 Peacock Nine • Powered by Wordpress.