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As 2009 winds down and people are thinking "thank God", it's time to crack open a fresh new year. Companies are busy taking a breath and leaning into what's starting to look like a better year for business.
And as others throughout society continue trying to catch up, dealing with the air knocked out of them, there's an organization, www.idealist.org, that is a bounty of volunteering opportunities. If one of your personal new year's goals, or your company's goals, is to help others, this is the site to check out.
Idealist's Vision:
"We would like to live in a world where:
2010 is just a few days away and we're geeked. Sure, 2009 was a bit of a mess, but hey, it's almost over and I'm determined to look forward, not backwards. So for today's post and anyone who needs a lift, I scoured the web for the 10 best inspirational quotes to help the gang at Atomic Ideas and the whole world get juiced for the coming year.
Memorize them, tack them on the wall, live them!
1. Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.
- Unknown
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
- Frank Outlaw
3. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland
4. "Everything is okay in the end, if it's not okay, then it's not the end."
- Unknown
5. I do it because I can, I can because I want to, I want to because you said I couldn't.
- Unknown
6. Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself:
I, not events, have the power to make me happy or
unhappy today. I can
choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived
yet. I have
just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.
- Groucho Marx
7. ' When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place '
- Unknown
8. A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can't
- Unknown
9. Don't Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow,
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
- Edgar A. Guest
10. Never tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon
- Unknown
Photo Credit:
I usually don’t get involved in sports talk and futile
blather. Basically, I like to watch sports and read about the results.
Occasionally, I’ll read a column or two. I like reading Mitch Album.
However, the other day, while reading a list that evaluated upcoming bowl game matchups by ESPN’s, Pat Forde, (espn.com columnist and college football expert), I came upon some incredible blurbs concerning the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl matchup summary.
They are comments that affect our economic condition here in Michigan. Here are parts of what Forde wrote,
“Who's happier to be there: Both should be tickled? Well, as tickled as you can be when you're spending Christmas in Detroit.”
And then later, he writes,
“Completely useless Dash fact: Fans looking for a hotel stay of two or more nights might consider buying a house in Detroit. Roughly the same cost.”
Where the hell does he get off? Is this supposed to be a little humorous bit tacked on to an otherwise dull bowl game assessment? What purpose does it serve? It’s unrelated to the game. It’s not the writer’s area of expertise. What’s the benefit of these ignorant comments? Is he trying to create a controversy? -in order to create some buzz and interest to his lengthy bowl game coverage? Well, It doesn’t work. It’s not helping him sell anything. If there is going to be a controversy, it should be between the two teams in the bowl matchup, not with the fans and people of a somewhat neutral game site. What warrants this thoughtless jab at a hurting city? This is not good business.
It’s just a joke?
It’s funny to be mean?
I guess that’s Pat Forde’s reason. He thought it was a funny joke, not to be taken seriously by the thousands of college football enthusiasts and the thousands of Detroit area residents.
These comments hurt more than just the residents of the Detroit area. They hurt and diminish the enthusiasm of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl game’s participants and all the people involved. The Little Caesar Pizza Bowl gives two teams an opportunity to play for something extra. It’s a bonus to a well-played season. The players get an all expenses paid trip. No, it’s not in a southern town near an ocean. But it is in a major, well-established, midwestern city that has all the features you’d expect, like great restaurants, fancy hotels, museums, art galleries, symphonies, jazz and techno clubs, three major casinos, (a casino across the river in Canada), NHL and NBA teams, great shopping and a bunch of other cool things.Visitors will not be bored. (These are things that economically help the Detroit community). The schools get a $750,000 payout, money they don’t generally turn down. And, the game will be played on TV (ESPN) giving the two teams valuable exposure.
Why would someone want to insult that opportunity and life experience?
Maybe it’s that Mr. Forde just wasn’t thinking. I’m not saying he’s an idiot. I’d never say that. I really don't get it. Maybe a quote from Joe Paterno's perspectve can help explain things:
“If I ever need a brain transplant, I want one from a sportswriter, because I’ll know it’s never been used.”
-Joe Paterno, College Football coach and frequent bowl game participant
As most people have probably heard by now, Pepsi will skip advertising in the upcoming Super Bowl and place their efforts on their up coming Pepsi Refresh Project (read about the Refresh Project on MSNBC and GIGAOM). You can argue both sides of the merit of Super Bowl advertising and its impact on brand and sales, but the decision made by Pepsi is fascinating.
Pepsi is saying they are committed to connecting with their consumers and the Refresh Project is a better forum. They not only want to speak to them about relevant and important issues, they want to do so at many different touch points and have an interaction that is personal and two-way.
Clearly, the Pepsi Refresh Project, and others like it, is taking marketing in a new, more personal direction. While Pepsi is claiming their marketing efforts and spending is likely to increase in 2010, they are exploring, and testing, new avenues of communication. And, they have clearly embraced two-way (brand to consumer and consumer to brand) communication rather than the traditional media communication model.
We will have to wait and see whether their efforts will truly strengthen Pepsi's brand image and reverse a recent downward sales trend for both the brand and the soft drink industry. Regardless of the outcome, it should be an engaging saga to follow and learn from.
At Atomic Ideas, we specialize in finding a client's "marketable truths".
That means those facets of a product or service that will resonate with their best potential customers. The word "truth" here is critical. The product or service has to actually possess the attribute or feature. Otherwise, the communication to the customer is hollow.
Take for instance these spots. They are funny, memorable, but they don't contain a "marketable truth." So while we laugh and applaud the humor, when they're over, there is really no reason to prefer this dealer over another. You wouldn't mind doing business with this dealer, but would you go out of your way to do business with him? Probably not.
A slightly lower price or a closer location would easily trump this dealer's fictional point of difference. The trick is to deliver entertaining, memorable spots that contain a "marketable truth."
Recently I went to The Home Depot to get some house
painting stuff. It was just after Thanksgiving, so the holiday marketing blitz
was well underway, everywhere. I walked through the entrance and was greeted by
a sales associate who asked if I needed any help finding anything. Which is the
typical thing you hear in any store right now. But what made this different and
weird was that he was enclosed in a large foil-wrapped box with a bow, just his
arms and head stuck out. It was nightmare-ish. And he was steadfastly in his
character of helpful, friendly, knowledgeable Home Depot salesman.
It reminded
me of some 50’s sci-fi movie robot like Robby
the Robot from the movie Forbidden Planet, except it
wasn’t in black and white. It was full-color bizzaro. I couldn’t take him
seriously, neither was anyone else. People looked at him strangely and quickly
walked away like they were trying to avoid a bad traffic accident.
What possesses a store manager to order an employee to perform such a demeaning sales role? And how can such a tactic ever increase sales? This relates to an issue that R. Tate discussed in his blog from the other day, People are turned off by bad (taste) humor. It doesn’t encourage sales.
I think this applies to advertising as well. It’s great when you entertain people, but not when you make fun of, or insult the consumer. The advertiser quickly looses your respect. Maybe this was a desperate reaction to the bad economic times. Whatever the case, I think Home Depot learned something. Last weekend I went to Home Depot and saw the boxed-in sales associate in the entrance, he asked again if there was anything I needed help with. I said no, and told him I was glad he successfully escaped from that holiday box. He was with another associate and they just laughed and laughed and shook their heads in disbelief.
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