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Socrates on wonder
"Wisdom begins in wonder."
Do you mind if I think out loud for a few minutes? Great! Here are a few things I've been thinking about (in no particular order):
- 61% of clinically obese people surveyed recently in NYC don't think they have a real weight problem. Most said they were slightly overweight, and 16 percent said they were just right.
People believe that they are better than they really are, and they want YOU and your people and your business model to validate those feelings. If you're really smart, you'll make them feel even better about themselves and their decisions.
I wonder why, no matter how many times or in how many ways I explain this to clients, it seems to fall on deaf ears. Here it is again: Harley Davidson does not sell motorcycles. They sell identity. They sell esteem. They sell belonging. Ditto for Apple and Starbucks and the rest of the best.
Did you hear what one college woman said when asked why she kept buying her coffee at Starbucks even after the professor agreed to purchase it for her (exactly the way she desired it)? Are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? Here it is:
"They'd miss me at my regular Starbucks if I didn't stop in."
Self-worth . . . only $5 a cup.
- Do you think it affects your identity when you shop and find a deal on something? Of course it does. It makes you smart, savvy. Right? And that's the Wal-Mart brand. So I wonder, doesn't all of the negative press that details how Wal-Mart is able to keep their prices so low simply validate their brand?
On another note, I heard that Wal-Mart is lobbying to increase the minimum wage in the U.S., and that it's viewed as an evil tactic to drive even more small businesses out of business. Talk about a puzzling thought.
- I wonder how much the pet-supply chain PetsMart paid Leo Burnett to promote its brand name change to PetSmart. Yeah. I had to read it twice too!
- So Oprah Winfrey buried the hatchet with David Letterman last week, which helped propel The Late Show to its biggest audience since 1994. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that the Winfrey-produced The Color Purple, which premiered the same week, is playing right across the street from The Late Show's studio?
I also wonder if that's why bloggers are so darn nice to each other. Because we're well aware, as Peter Morville argues, that "findability is at the center of a fundamental shift in the way we define authority, allocate trust, make decisions, and learn independently." And make money.
- I wonder how many marketing metaphors there are today? Let's see, targets, funnels, eyeballs, campaigns (from war), blue oceans (I like that one), blah, blah, blah. Not to even mention the plethora of brand metaphors.
- I read a MarketingProfs article yesterday by Barry Silverstein of Arnold Worldwide fame. I typically highlight when I read, and in the white space of his article I penned a bunch of question marks. Maybe it's me. Does this make sense to you?
"A strong brand truth involves both head and heart. The rational core represents the brand aspiration, or what the brand stands for. The emotional wrapping is how a consumer with the right mindset feels about the brand." Huh?
"Miller Lite is a classic example. At the time of its national introduction in 1975, Miller Lite hit on a unique, breakaway brand truth: "Tastes Great. Less Filling." Miller Lite found a way to appeal to the rational and emotional sides of beer drinkers at the same time: only Miller Lite could claim to be lower in calories (rational) while offering the taste beer drinkers wanted (emotional)."
What? Calories is a rational attribute and taste is an emotional one? Hmm. I guess it's because you can't lie about calories in your marketing and get away with it.
- In a letter to the editor of Graphic Design USA, art director Ashley Little writes:
"I am surprised you devoted an entire article to being nice. Isn't being nice and having a positive attitude just common sense?"
So I'm thinking that Ashley lives somewhere in the middle of the country. Any way, I also happen to agree with her (for a completely different reason). Being nice is simply not a prerequisite for success in business. No doubt that it makes the world a better place in which to live. So thank you nice people (you know who you are). But Jack Welch would kick Gandhi's butt in business any day of the week. Right Martha?
- And last, but not least, I agree with all of the experts that have proclaimed that the middle is disappearing (the middle class, the middle of the country, the middle in between the high end and the low end product, etc.). I was just over my friend's house and get this: he owns a 5 foot wide plasma TV, and a video iPod with a screen about the size of a book of matches. There really is no "in between" any more.
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» People don't care about your product! from Emergence Marketing
That's right - did you get that? Let me say it one more time - your customers could care less about your "product" or your company- they only care about themselves! Unfortunately there are very few marketers that get that.... [Read More]
You are what you buy.
Yikes.
So... is there still a real person behind the Volkswagen, Rudy project, Cannondale, Kenneth Cole, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Starbucks, Esquire, Canon, Target, Ikea, Dell, Yves St. Laurent, Honest Tea, HP, Hincapie Sportswear, Nike, Mizuno, Sony, Kleenex, and Fast Company stooge that I have turned into?
(Does this post qualify as an intervention?)
Posted by: olivier blanchard | December 09, 2005 at 02:04 PM
Unfortunately there is very few manager, upper or lower, who get that and they are the ones in charge of the day to day operational, marketing, and customer experience development. Infact all they think of is themselves usually. That puts them at odds with the customer from the get go. To Bad. Nice thoughts Tom.
Posted by: Tim Whelan | December 12, 2005 at 12:54 AM