JUST KIDDING (sort of)! Like the Pot of Gold, it’s something that has been hyped, faked and talked about for years. All of this wasted energy stems from a deep desire for somebody … anybody to come along and invent a cell phone that’s not more complex than a VCR … one that looks great, works great, is intuitive and doesn’t take a 50 page manual to figure out. People, are we just dreaming? Meet the “Serene” by Bang & Olufsen.

So, a cool phone like that doesn’t need to complete on price, right?! Right! A product review like this points out stellar thinking in design and product development … no status quo here! The price tag is hefty but will assuredly come down when other manufacturers get a clue.

“Bottom line” question; Is your product or service differentiated to the point where you can work this far away from the price war?

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The latest campaign produced for the Canadian Mothers Against Drunk Driving takes informational posters to a new level.  Add interesting juxtaposition of the poster to everyday objects, ask that the poster be crumpled a bit (for visual interest and texture), and VOILA! … you’ve got something that will really catch an eye.  Not just another piece of wallpaper that gets ignored.

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Personal observation: If I had to go shopping for some low-priced commodities (sporting goods, toilet paper, shampoo, etc.), and there was a WalMart smack dab next to a KMart, I’d first walk into the WalMart. But WHY?

We could talk all day long about pricing strategies, advertising market penetration, national business development strategies, blah, blah, yadda, yadda. My decision (personally) comes down to brand. “WHAT THE …” you say? OK, not the corporate brand management strategies tweaked by each in their corporate offices, or the nature of their commercials. No, what I’m talking about is how I “feel” when I’m in each store.

After putting some thought into what makes a difference to me, I was able to make a list of personal observations:

• WalMart seems like it’s always a bit cleaner
• WalMart’s aisles seem like they’re a smidge wider
• The cashiers at KMart seem like they’re, on average, a little grumpier
• The stocking at KMart isn’t quite as well managed … prices missing, products regularly under-stocked or (gasp) out of stock
• WalMart doesn’t have nearly as many carnival mid-way games and rides
• And, my favorite, KMart doesn’t have an old person greeting you at the door. I ADMIT IT! … I LIKE THAT!

I’m sure I could go on and on and on with some more thought. The point? … In my mind, KMart’s Brand is suffering from a lack of attention to detail. It’s not about pricing (for the most part) and it’s not about the commercials. It’s about ME, ME, ME (the consumer).

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Sixteen years ago (tomorrow), a wide-eyed, naive, shoot-for-the-moon, dreamer was given the greatest gift a person can receive. To hear the simple words “I do” from his soul mate. That dreamer was me.

Most of the time, that day seems like it was just last week … but when I think about all that has happened in that span of years, it amazes me that I’ve been able to get from day to day …€” considering everything that goes on in my life. Two handsome boys, multiple career changes, ten years of building a company, clubs, community involvement, house projects, three homes in two states on two coasts, good times, bad times (just like vows predicted). WHAT A RIDE!

In a nutshell, none of the best moments would have happened without the tolerance and unconditional love of my wife. She’s my “rock”, my “right hand”, my “muse” … my “HB”.

P.S. Yeah, this post was a tad personal for a business blog but I needed another tally mark in the “Top Dogs” category.

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This is a love-hate post.  I was at a birthday party this weekend chatting with a photographer who told me “you have to go see this site”.  She said this with such conviction, I knew I had to check it out.  My knee-jerk reaction was to censor the entire experience and chalk it up as a waste of time….. it starts out with a Flash pre-loader and the home page is fully Flash (no text for the search engines) and uses “mystery meat” navigation.  AAAACK!!!  These are some of the worst design offenses you can make with a site.  SHEEESH! 

Then ….. I started checking the site out.  Hang on folks — It’s fun, it’s fresh, it’s quirky, it’s easy to navigate, and it even looks like they have a great product.   Hmmmm, maybe I was too harsh before.  What’s for certain is Crumpler Bags is fearless and bold with their brand!

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Okay kids, sharpen up your Andy Rooney voices and repeat after me — “Have you evvver noticed…”

* All real estate people use a mugshot in their listings.
* Used car dealerships act like they’re off their meds … and they film their commercials with zoo animals.
* Women who clean themselves in soap or shampoo commercials move around like they’re pole dancing in a strip club.

Warning: If you’re doing things in your marketing/advertising that even remotely resembles your competition, ask your marketing guy/gal “why?”! If their answer sounds anything like “…because that’s how it’s done!”, you may want to re-think your whole strategy.

Just imagine …. next Sunday morning, you’re thumbing through the real estate section of the paper and you find a picture of a real estate agent with a bag over their head! The caption reads something like “To meet me (and to actually see my face), call me about this listing at 555-1234.” Yep, I know I’d hire an agent with that level of courage!

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Seth gets us thinking again (DARN him!) with a post about words found in Google like “Ultimate”. His point; words like “ultimate”, “best”, “perfect” and “unique” don’t reeeeeally differentiate you from the masses. Everyone uses them … even your competitors.

Remember, THERE’S POWER IN THEM THAR WORDS PEOPLE!! How about words like “brazen”, “compelling”, “unstoppable” (thanks Lani), or “plucky”? NO, you don’t want to sacrifice readability or good communication, but you also don’t have to settle for dusty-dry, safe, conservative prose either.

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Eight hours of thinking can do wonders for distilling an idea. From the last post came the concept of “idea mashing”. This has become important enough (in my mind) to warrant the creation of a whole new category. From now on, innovative ideas, companies and products that are created this way will find their way into this spotlight. Keep a look out for them and PLEASE let me know when you see two ideas collide!

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Last week I had the pleasure of attending my first ECRM conference. This is an AMAZING event that matches buyers with vendors in a one-on-one setting quite different from your usual 10×10, beg-for-time, hand-out-business-cards in front of a bowl of candy, trade show fiasco.

During the event, we were asked a very interesting question by two young (although they claimed they were each 103 years old. Seriously!) ladies, Thao and Amy, from Hyland’s Homeopathic. The question was “Name an innovative product or company that you’ve encountered in the past 60-90 days.” WOW, what a question! Being a self admitted “creative” group we lucked out by having them ask us at the very end of our session. We got a reprieve and were instructed that we had to have an answer by 10:00 AM the following morning and we weren’t allowed to say “Acorn Creative.” Shooot.

This got me to thinkin’ about what is it that makes a product “innovative”. Brand stuff, easy … differentiation, boldness, powerful … okay, got that. But what about “innovative”. Well, we weren’t allowed to say Acorn Creative but it begs the question “what makes Acorn Creative innovative”. To me, one obvious answer was the combination of high-end, design with Carl Jung’s concepts of psychological archetypes. The innovation is the mashing together of two previously unrelated ideas.

Immediately, several other examples popped into mind. My answer to Thao and Amy, the next morning, included:

* The mashing of kitchen appliances with livingroom and office devices — The LG refrigerator with embedded TV and Internet connectivity
* The collision of sticky notes and photographs — 3Ms post-it photo paper
and (my favorite)
* The combo of contractor’s latex caulk and spray cheese — DAPs “Easy Caulk”

Putting caulk into a spray cheese can … who woulda ever thunk it? Sure, it seems obvious to you now, but the first person to put those ideas together is a suuuuper genius. When DAP launched the product it was designed for everyone. Contractors, however, still like the control of the old tried-and-true caulking gun. Weekend warriors and housewives, on the other hand, LOVE the stuff.

To make your product or service innovative, what two ideas can YOU mash together?

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First time here? I hope so … we just launched a few days ago. I plan on posting often AND, more importantly, plan on posting blurbs that will ROCK YOUR WORLD!!! OK, maybe not your whole world, but at least that part that relates to brand strategy and marketing.

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