Tom Asacker

"Happy" New Year

I wish you and those dear to you a very happy and healthy 2009. And thank you very much for taking the time to visit my blog and consider my views. I truly appreciate it.

I emphasized the word "happy" in the headline for a reason.  If you're interested in succeeding in the marketplace for products, services, events and causes in 2009, you must shift your strategic emphasis from "selling stuff" to "creating happiness." I'm being quite sincere (not serious. I'm seldom serious any more).

I know what you're probably thinking: "Happiness?  C'mon.  Do we even know what makes people happy?"  Well, we have a pretty good idea.  Happiness is a good day.  Happiness is something a little extra to look forward to.  Happiness is a little give and take.  Happiness is a little novelty and entertainment.  But happiness is also confirmation of ones self-worth.  It's a few peak experiences.  It's making a difference.  It's making sure that the story of our lives has a feeling of progress and growth.

I leave you on this eve of an incredibly exciting new year with an excerpt from my latest book.  Enjoy and God speed:

*****

Seeking happiness

     The great Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote, “Life is opinion.”  I firmly believe in that sentiment. So I’m sure that everyone has a different opinion about what specifically contributes to happiness. That said, there does seem to be consensus about what generally makes people happy. And I’m talking about happiness while participating in today’s modern marketplace, which is primarily an individualistic, do-it-yourself, and better oneself pursuit. First, let’s make a distinction between near term happiness and happiness in the more distant future. Let’s assume for a moment that you love burgers and fries, which isn’t much of a leap, considering how you’ve been attacking that plate.

      Funny guy.

     And let’s also assume that you’ve just been diagnosed with dangerously high blood cholesterol.

     Gee, thanks.

     You’re welcome. So now, when you go out for lunch and decide to forgo the double cheeseburger and curly fries and opt, instead, for the plain salad with balsamic vinaigrette, are you doing it to make yourself happy?

      I suppose I’m doing it to avoid pain and suffering in the future.

     Right, you’re trading happiness now for happiness later. “Happy now” is the proverbial hamburger. It’s about novelty and engagement; pleasurable sights, sounds, tastes, conversations and experiences. “Happy life” is the salad. It’s about improving oneself (mentally, physically and spiritually), rituals and relationships, family and friends, learning new skills, growth and giving back. So even though your impulsive self was telling you to order the burger, your more future-focused self won you over. We play that balancing of life choices game -happy now vs. happy life - all the time, moment by moment. The ultimate goal is to avoid the either - or paradox and satisfy both our happy now and happy life desires. Eat the hypothetical “good for you” hamburger, if you will.

     So we should develop models which satisfy both selves? Isn’t that the same thing as saying we should appeal to both the emotional and rational minds of the customer?

      I don’t really see it that way. I prefer to distinguish it in terms of the “thinking” dimension of the mind, which is very capable of making irrational decisions, and the “feeling” dimension, which at times is quite rational. The mind is like a small child walking a very big dog. The child - the thinking or “should” self - is the slower, weaker, more conscious part, which is trying to direct the faster and more powerful, automatic part of the brain - the feeling or “want” self. And it can do so quite successfully, especially if the dog - the “want” self - has been trained. But suppose a dangerous character swaggers out in front of them?

      The child will be following the dog’s lead.

     That’s right, and in fact, that may be the most appropriate course of action. You see, sometimes the more reflexive part of the brain - the feeling part - is more rational than the deliberative part; like when it senses that someone is untrustworthy and follows its gut despite all of the evidence to the contrary. By the same respect, there are many “happy now” desires that are quite rational, and many “happy life” ones that are not, and vice versa.
     So that’s a long way of saying, yes . . . appeal to both selves. That’s what the very successful, LiveStrong® brand did; it appealed to the “want-self’s” desire to signal its identity, and the “should-self’s” desire to help people. Ask yourself: how can I resolve the want - should, happy now - happy life conflict inherent in my customer’s decision-making calculus? How can I appeal to the stressed out, impulsive, novelty-seeking, socially-obsessed customer who also wants to satisfy his purpose-driven, better oneself future-self?

Early morning rant

My friend Jim Blasingame invited me to speak to his audience this morning about what small business can do to leverage the value of its brands during a recession.  The caffeine really kicked in about half way into it.  Click here to listen now (less than 20 minutes start to end).

Beware (be aware) of the Einstellung effect in 2009

You have three empty water jars, and each holds a different amount of water.  Jar A holds 21 units of water,  Jar B holds 127 units, and Jar C holds 3 units.  You have to measure out 100 units of water.  What's the quickest way to do it?

The solution is to fill up Jar B (127) and pour out enough water to fill A once (minus 21) and C twice (minus 6).  Simple enough.  Now, you have three different jars: Jar A holds 15 units, Jar B holds 39 units, and Jar C holds 3 units.  What's the quickest way to measure out 18 units of water?

In experiments, people who were given the first problem to solve tended to solve the second problem in precisely the same manner, namely fill up Jar B (39) and pour out enough water to fill Jar A once (minus 15) and Jar C twice (minus 6).  However, a much simpler solution exists: Fill Jar A (15) and Jar C (3) and pour them into Jar B.  But the subjects were mentally conditioned to miss this more appropriate solution. 

Most people and organizations will enter 2009 with the same "attitude" they had in 2008 (Einstellung is German for "attitude."), and therefore they'll mentally miss the more appropriate solutions to their  business challenges.  They'll be working from a set of assumptions and methods that are so firmly established from past experiences that it will create a powerful incentive within these people to continue to adopt or accept those prior behaviors.

Don't let that happen to you.  Slow down and reevaluate your problems with a clear-eyed view of what you're trying to accomplish and the difference you're trying to make in people's lives. Create a new model of the marketplace - and your role in it - which will drive new, more appropriate behaviors.

I know what you're probably thinking: "No need to worry.  That won't happen to me.  I'm tuned in.  I'm acutely aware of the realities of the new marketplace."  Sorry, but you're not.  New research reveals that even when you think you're surveying new conceptual terrain, your attention is still locked onto familiar features.

In one study, chess experts predicted that 74 percent of Masters would spot the shortest checkmate on a board in the shadow of a longer one.  But only 18 percent did.  And here's what's so dangerous: there was no immediate negative feedback.  Everything seemed to be going well, until something went wrong down the road.  Think General Motors, Circuit City, Washington Mutual, etc., etc., etc.

Make no mistake, 2009 will be a puzzling year.  But the solutions will be different than they've been in years past.  Make sure that you start the new year by changing your "attitude," otherwise you too will experience the negative consequences of the Einstellung effect.  Guaranteed.

Branding lessons from Will Smith

USA Today recently ran a cover story on Will Smith that spells out how the affable actor has amassed over $2.45 billion in North American box office receipts.  I've grabbed some excerpts that should provide guidance to just about any type of brand.

Spend seven seconds sitting across from Will Smith, and you'll never wonder why he's a superstar. He's charming and attentive, observant and clever — without ever seeming to try. When he talks, he makes eye contact; when he laughs, it takes over his whole body.

Smith, 40,  is consistently in charge, on point and thinking ahead. Here's how he does it:

1. Think globally

Any film Smith makes, as a star or through his Overbrook production company, "has to be extraordinary, it has to be entertainment, it has to be art." And be "delivered to all people of the world."

"If we don't know how to sell it, we're not going to begin — no matter how extraordinary I think the entertainment art is going to be."

2. Talent at the top 

Smith handpicks his directors.

"He takes me to places that I'd never choose myself," Smith says of director Gabriele Muccino, who directed him to an Oscar nomination for 2006's The Pursuit of Happyness.

3. Mix it up, to a point

"I have to challenge myself and push myself," Smith says. "My only job is to make sure I don't leave anything on the table, that I maximize what a young dude from Philly can do in the world of cinema. There's no telling what I can create at this point." 

Two scripts he'd love to star in that Overbrook is developing are the stories of Nelson Mandela and Marvin Gaye. "I'm not certain I'm actor enough yet," Smith admits. "I love both of those, and I need to make sure I'm man enough."

4. Preserve the Smith brand 

Smith doesn't get busted for DUIs or punch or scream at paparazzi.

"By being famous, you're afforded rights that other people who aren't famous aren't afforded," he says. "If I'm going to walk to the front of the line (at the restaurant) because I'm Will Smith, then I have to sign all the autographs. If I don't want to sign any autographs, I don't walk to the front of the line. It's that simple. Stand in the line with everybody else."

5. Cross color lines

Growing up in Philadelphia, Smith attended a mostly white Catholic elementary school and a mostly African-American high school. He lived in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, attended a Baptist church and admired the Muslim girls who lived one street over. 

Along the way, Smith learned that laughter is collective and unifying. "Those universal elements became really clear in my experiences growing up."

6. Be master of your domain

Since 1996's blockbuster Independence Day, Smith has generated a movie a year, sometimes two. When he signs on, he's fully committed. 

"He's very firm with his own ideas and considerations about things," Muccino says. "He doesn't change his mind easily. If he says no, it's no. If he says yes, it's yes. He's a man of his word. In Italy we call them men of honor."

7. Leave nothing to chance

"We talked through all the elements of where we want to be so we can start, in this moment, designing our life toward that."

Let's review: Be attentive, observant and clever, without seeming to try. Be on point, in charge and thinking ahead. Make what you do extraordinary, but don't even start unless you know how to sell it. Surround yourself with people who'll make you stretch and draw the best out of you. Make sure you're prepared to be the best at what you set out to do. Remember that with success comes responsibility. Be inclusive, appeal to what's universal. Be fully committed and be honorable. Design with the end in mind. Sounds like good advice to me.

Interviews you may have missed

My friend Mark and I discuss value and radio.

Dan Schawbel asks about the future of branding.

Chris asks me questions about my new book over at The Marketing Fresh Peel.

New Article - Nine Predictions for 2009 (not what you think)

Someone once said that the pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity and the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Which one will the challenging New Year draw out of you? Do you want to know?

Every person has both the dog of optimism and the dog of pessimism inside of them. The one you see most often is the one you feed most often.  It really is that simple.  I truly hope that you feed the hopeful one in 2009 - the one with the bright, shining eyes of possibility - and live a life of passion, not pretense.

My final article of 2008 is my nine predictions for 2009. I hope you enjoy it.

Read "Nine Predictions for 2009" when you get a chance.  Here's the link:

http://www.acleareye.com/thoughts/Article_Nine_Predictions_for_2009.pdf

If you do enjoy it, please pass it around to your friends, colleagues and associates. It just may be that tiny spark that lights up their life in 2009.  One never knows.  That's why it's always good to step out of your routine and take a chance every once in a while. Just right click the link above, click "Copy Link Location," and then right click and paste it into your email.  Simple, huh?  Thanks in advance.

Also, if you're interested in receiving notification of new articles by email in 2009 (along with some random statistics, news and interesting links that you won't find on this blog), you can join the legion of others by entering your email address, clicking the submit button, and then confirming your subscription from Aweber.  Thanks! And happy New Year!

How do you define value?

I've received a smattering of emails over the past week in response to last Tuesday's post, the essence of which lies in the title of this one.  I wrote that organizations should cut all "valueless" activities, so I guess that I should at least define value, right?  Okay, here goes: Mutually beneficial marketplace "value" is any activity that brings about all four of the following results with one's intended audience:

1. Gained attention
   
   This appears to be a no-brainer.  If we're going to invest in something, then we should at the very least expect it to gain people's attention.  Right?  Well, I can assure you that it is not as simple as it may seem.  People are rapidly adopting technologies, routines and mindsets that remove commercial messages from their visual and cognitive views.  That's why I insist in my new book that the future of marcom is not in "messaging."  There are much more cost-effective and powerful ways to convey ideas and signal value.
   
   Studies reveal that as much as half of what we do every day is habitual; done on autopilot at the same time or in the same place without really thinking about it.  For people to "sense" an activity or offering, it must engage their conscious attention (puh-lease . . . don't even mention subliminal advertising).  Your offering, therefore, should be contextually unexpected, or else they'll simply tune it out.
   
   Now, despite what you've probably read in popular marketing books, the stimulus does not need to be simple.  In fact, it should be interesting enough to draw people in for a closer look.  You're trying to charm and inspire people, not impress and persuade them.  But (and this is where many advertisements break down), it does need to provide a cue to the inherent value of the offering, as well as allow people to tease that value out for themselves.  That's right.  You do not want it to be overt and obvious, for as Joseph Joubert wrote, "We may convince others by our arguments, but we can only persuade them by their own."
   .
2. Gained interest
   
   Great!  You've gained their attention.  Now, did the activity stimulate their desire for the brand, and for what choosing the brand will ultimately tell them about themselves?  If not, go back to the drawing board.  Gaining attention for the sole purpose of gaining attention is a lazy waste of money.  It's the game played by impulse purchase brands and those in low-involvement categories.  Now, if your brand is as important to people as a pack of chewing gum, then go for it!  Otherwise, create something valuable and memorable.  Use that gained attention to signal value and integrity of purpose, and compel people to share it with others.
   .
3. Gained trust
   
   What is trust (besides the holy grail of business success)?  It's the confident expectation of something.  It's the reliance on the intention, integrity and ability of a brand to deliver that something.  So what engenders trust in a low-trust world?  Talk?  Jingles?  Promises?  Conversations?  Absolutely not.  Today you create trust through actions and through others.  Your actions need to be tangible, vivid and human to have any chance of creating believability.  You create trust by helping people see others using your brand.  You create trust by demonstrating your unique value, not talking about it.  And you create trust by being real, human, passionate, and empathetic in your approach to the world.
   .
   
4. Gain support
   
   Okay, you've got their attention, interest, and trust, which most likely means that you have "sales" (if, of course, they have the means to transact).  Terrific.  But do you have their ongoing support?  Will they stick with you?  Will they look forward to your communication?  Will they give you unsolicited advice to help you improve your offering?  Will they refer their family and friends?  Will they stay interested in you?  They will if you stay interested in them, by continuing to stay interesting; by continuing to surprise them with new and valuable activities, products, and services, which reinforces their decision to make you a part of their lives. 

Given the very challenging times we live in today, the opportunity to gain people's attention, interest, trust and support by touching their lives in interesting, meaningful and valuable ways is virtually limitless.  What stops most organizations and people is a lack of spirit and purpose, creative idleness, and plain, old-fashioned fear.  Please don't let those things stop you.

Are you taking the road less traveled?

Before you answer that seemingly simple question, you had better watch this brief video.

How do you make sense?

I read a few newspapers and a handful of magazines each day, not to mention the two to three books I have "in process" at any given time.  In addition, I regularly read about two dozen blogs, listen to a few podcasts, watch a few webinars, and I also subscribe to a plethora of email newsletters. 

My goal is to "make sense" of it all, and then to provide guidance to people who are trying to create value for their audiences and communities.  It's a daunting task.  To give you a "feel" for what I'm trying to get at, these are just a few of the headlines (with links to the full text) that have shown up in my inbox . . . today:

IBM CEO preps for infrastructure boom: IBM CEO Sam Palmisano looks at the global financial crisis and sees only opportunity. Many of the world's ills, he believes, are the result of one problem: shoddy networks. So he is angling to make IBM the leader in network overhaul. "You can retrench, pull in your horns, protect the balance sheet, and preserve cash," he says. "Or you can realize that this is about humanity screaming for change."

Honda dashboard, glowing blue: Honda adds ambient feedback for greener driving. Instead of displaying potentially distracting numbers and statistics, Honda's Eco Assist dashboard system gives feedback by changing colour.

Small acts can have big impact: Small behavioral changes don't cost much, but they can produce dramatic payoffs, something managers should take into account when training workers. For example, a customer will wait longer when acknowledged by eye contact or a quick word, and restaurant customers are more likely to come back if they are called the day after their visit to inquire about their satisfaction.

Gore-Tex repels management: The WL Gore materials company has thrived for 50 years, but the concept of management never took hold. "We don't like the 'manager' word," Chief Executive Officer Terri Kelly says. "We get very angry when people call [the staff] employees."

Muppets made to order at FAO Schwarz: Capitalizing on the personalization trend, Muppets and FAO Schwartz have teamed up to build the Muppet Whatnot Workshop. Customers can build their own muppet at FAO Schwartz or online.

How a big corporation can think like a startup: Given the same innovation budget, new companies outperform established firms, and researchers at IMD set out to discover why. Their findings: Employees need autonomy and reward for innovation, but the key ingredient is psychological safety. The challenge for executives, they said, is to build a culture that allows failure and harnesses the knowledge gained along the way.

News Media Less Effective at Conveying Ad Messages: Only 28% of the audience of an average news program, website or magazine gets valuable information about products and services advertised there, making news venues less effective at conveying ad messages than all forms of media combined, according to consumer research from Experian Simmons

The downturn's new rules for marketers: The old recession playbook won't work this time around

Home Depot helps families reduce Christmas-tree fuss:  Big-box stores were responsible for about 25% of total sales of fresh-cut Christmas trees in the U.S. last year. Home Depot is the leader in the field, thanks to its method of distributing different sizes and varieties of trees to regions in which they will sell best, an approach that will help it move about 2 million fresh trees this year.

Catching your own flak: When bad news affects your brand in the online environment, the best way to cope is by acting quickly and presenting documentation to potential critics that tells your side of the story

Millennials drive their parents 2TXT: Credit Millennials with getting their folks to text. 20% of 55- to 64-year-olds are tapping out messages in 2008, up from 13% just two years ago.

Cisco's radical reorganization: The top 10 executives at Cisco used to make all the leadership decisions. Now, the company is spreading those duties among working groups that have 500 members. Cisco CEO John Chamber says the makeover, already under way, reflects the adoption of social-networking tools that let Cisco's new boards and councils innovate at breakneck speed. "Fifteen minutes and one week to get a (business) plan that used to take six months!" he says.

Leading through uncertainty:  It's a whole new capitalism out there and business leaders need to figure out how to operate amid multiple unknowns. Executives "need greater flexibility to create strategic and tactical options they can use defensively and offensively as conditions change," say the management pros at McKinsey. "They need a sharper awareness of their own and their competitors' positions. And they need to make their organizations more resilient."

Kmart's layaway policy energizes other retailers, shoppers:  Kmart's and Sears' pushes to promote their layaway programs this holiday season has popularized layaway again with shoppers, who are seeking ways to avoid credit card debt. An online layaway e-commerce site expects its traffic to jump 50% this year.

Microsoft, Blockbuster to Serve Films via Mobile: A cloak-and-dagger meeting of minds Microsoft has partnered with brick-and-mortar movie rental firm Blockbuster to serve films on mobile devices. "Eventually, we'll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an internet connection and a screen," vowed Blockbuster Chief Information Officer Keith Morrow in an interview with the Dallas Morning News.

Saturn brand never quite became GM's engine of change: Although General Motors' Saturn unit has built some consumer loyalty, it is a symbol of how the country's biggest automaker tried, but didn't quite succeed, in creating a brand that would rival foreign automakers' high-quality, fuel-efficient models, according to this article.

Strategy in a "structural break:" Many companies will find that their old business model goes kaput because the volatile market is creating new trends and patterns. The right strategy now can help an upstart leap ahead of the competition, says UCLA professor Richard Rumelt. "A structural break is the very best time to be a strategist, for at the moment of change old sources of competitive advantage weaken and new sources appear," he says. His nine-point "Hard times survival guide" is a must-read.

Target shakes up season with iPhone application: The retailer has launched an iPhone application that suggests gift ideas that can be bought instantly on its Web site. By shaking their iPhones, users set off a flurry of digital snow in the Target Gift Globe that settles to reveal a product.

I want to emphasize that that's simply a sprinkling of the business-related email content that has poured in . . . today. There is much, much more.  Now, are all of those articles relevant to creating an endearing and enduring organization and marketplace offering?  Are there insights buried within each?  Perhaps, but I won't know until I've had a chance to read them and "make sense" of them.

On Monday I had a stimulating conversation with a very passionate, and very busy, executive of a global marketing organization.  After speaking with her, I'm absolutely sure that she doesn't have the time to consume even a fraction of the amount of information coming at her from traditional and new media sources (and have a career and life, too). 

So, how does she "make sense," given all of the changes that are rapidly occurring in the marketplace?  How does she stay on top of what's important and "what works," as opposed to what's popular and "in the news?"  How do you?  It's something to seriously consider before wandering into 2009. 

The next 12 – 18 months will likely be the most challenging time for businesses of all stripes and sizes, since the recession of the early 1980s. To be successful in this marketplace filled with desperate companies chasing time-starved people with fewer discretionary dollars, businesses must focus relentlessly on providing customers with more "value" in exchange for their time and those dollars.

But "value" is a very complex, nuanced, and rapidly changing concept today. So it's imperative that you follow Andy Grove's sage advice and be paranoid!  You must consciously and strategically do your best to assure that you - and your people - understand precisely what marketplace "value" means to your audience.  And then you must stretch and exercise your organizational muscles, and develop the unique ability to creatively and profitably deliver said value over time.  Because make no mistake, in 2009 only the paranoid and passionate will survive.

Is the advertising industry still relevant?

There's an old saying, "Be careful of giving advice.  The wise don't need it and fools won't heed it."  I try really hard to follow that sage advice.

I'm exposed daily, like most of you, to a lot of noise emanating from the media and the blogosphere.  Most of the babble causes me to shake my head from side to side.  Some of it causes me to bite my lower lip.  But every so often I'll read something that is so far off the mark that I feel compelled to respond. Today is one of those days.

I'm sure you've been following the fate of Detroit's automakers. It's all over the news.  After their underwhelming appearance before Congress a few weeks ago, the CEOs of GM, Ford, and Chrysler were told to come back with viable plans if they want a government bailout. They turned their plans in today, and GM said it will run out of money to pay its bills this month unless Congress gives it access to $4 billion . . . immediately.

Well now AdvertisingAge magazine, through one of its columnists Al Ries, has chimed in and has attributed GM's downfall to . . . get this . . . poor "messaging."  That's right.  If only they had chosen the right slogans and tag lines and ads, they'd be fine. Here's a taste of the advertising industry's logic from Al Ries' column:

Responding to a recent Wall Street Journal article that attributes much of Japanese, German and Korean automakers' competitive advantage to building alliances with American workers, Ries writes:

"It's nice to have happy, intelligent, productive employees, but to credit them with building a successful car company is stretching it a bit.

It seems to me that the fundamental nature of Japanese competition is their ability to build brands. Toyota stands for reliability. Scion for youth. Prius for hybrid. Lexus for luxury."

What? Who does he think was responsible for designing and manufacturing the cars that took on those particular attributes?  Madison Avenue?  Ries does go on to point out, however, that GM, Ford and Chrysler really did try to create desirable cars (brands):

"It's not for lack of trying. In 2007, the U.S. automobile industry spent $4.6 billion on advertising. That's 3.3% of total U.S advertising spending and 5.9% of total U.S. network TV spending."

Must have been bad ads, huh?  Here's some more:

"America invented marketing. America invented branding. America invented the production line, which made the automobile affordable for the majority of the population."

Yes Al, and America ignored W. Edwards Deming. And the car companies spent more time lobbying to protect their short-term interests than they did innovating for long-term growth. Instead of adapting to new economic and environmental realities, they denied the existence of global warming and ignored the calls for national health-care reform, among other strategic blunders. But the advertising industry says, through its spokesperson Al Ries, that the real problems of U.S. industry are caused by the disconnect between the smart folks in marketing and the folks at the helm:

"There's a growing disconnect between U.S. management and U.S. marketing. Management wants to build a business. Marketing wants to build a brand. The two are often diametrically opposed. To build a business, you tend to 'expand' the brand. To build a brand, you generally need to 'contract' the brand.

Huh? It's no wonder that the advertising industry is rapidly losing clients and credibility with executive management.  Are they really that far out of touch?