Tom Asacker

It's like blackjack, not roulette

In the book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions," author Kevin Lewis explains why blackjack is the only casino game that is beatable over an extended period of time:

". . . blackjack is subject to continuous probability. This simply means that what you see affects what you are going to see. This fact, and this fact alone, makes blackjack beatable. It's just a matter of figuring out how best to take advantage of the game's continuous probability."

The marketplace is also a game where what you see will affect what you are going to see. So why do so many businesses and organizations ignore fundamental changes in consumer behavior until it's way too late?

Loving what you do

It should show on your face, sing from your voice, ooze from your pores, and shine through in the inspired performance of your products, services and, especially, your people.

Interesting Week 36 0f 2009

1. Whoa, This Is Heavy

TrueSlant.com

2. Death by Information Overload

Harvard Business Review

3. The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple Is Just Fine

Wired

4. The Architect of Experience: Conversation With a Service Designer

Fast Company

5. The World's Best Brands: The success stories -- and the failures -- of this year's Top 100

Business Week

Are you feeling uncomfortable?

I hope so.

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers." - M. Scott Peck

Every strong brand is a niche brand

Think about it: Brand value is all about distinction and scarcity. The brand appeals, in a particular way, to a particular group of people.  And that's why those people will:

1. Pay a premium for it (which results in increased margins);

2. Go out of their way for it (which results in increased margins; and/or

3. Talk about it and show it off to their family and friends (which results in increased margins).

So this struck me as ill-informed (from Adweek, 8/31/2009):

"Explaining that it was embarking on a search for a new advertising agency, VW vp of marketing Tim Ellis said, 'Our goal of rapidly increasing our volume in a mature market requires the Volkswagen brand to evolve into a more relevant mainstream choice.'"

"The Volkswagen brand needs to inspire our base of enthusiasts as well as reach out and captivate those in mainstream America."

Sorry Tim, but that's an oxymoronic statement.  Enthusiasts are not the same as mainstream.  Pursuing that goal is a commodity strategy destined for low margin, GM-like performance.  Instead, inspire your base of brand enthusiasts, and then empower and motivate them to inspire the mainstream.  See the difference?