Back

I'm back after a two-month hiatus.  My workload took priority but I'm back today and will start posting on a regular basis.

Birthday cakes and why don't we have more fun with them.  My wife recently celebrated a birthday and her sisters picked up a fun "summer" birthday cake at Target.  It is always amazing to me the reaction people have to birthday cakes that are different. "Hey that's cool" and "That looks like a burger - I want the big meaty part".

Sometimes it is the simple gestures that make all the difference in the world.

So ask yourself today what are you doing to make something ordinary different today?  Love to hear your  thoughts.

It is all about stories.

This past weekend I was back home in North Dakota with a family gathering of about 45 immediate family members to celebrate my Mom's birthday. It was a fun weekend full of everyone sharing current and past stories.  Isn't that what it is all about?

Whether it is personal or professional the ability to tell great stories is the linchpin to everything.  And from a personal perspective the older the story the better as they get slightly enhanced over time.

It really hit me yesterday driving back the ritual of storytelling and the importance of passing it down from one generation to another. And for brands it is important to share stories with your customers across the wide range of platforms today and especially social media.  Yes stories are what it is all about.

The next big thing

Yesterday Google launched its mobile-payment platform called "Wallet" for smartphones.  This truly is the next big thing as now smartphones will truly become our wallets and replace credit cards.

Wallet will be a combination credit card, rewards program and coupon case when consumers tap their smartphones at the cash register.  Google has partners with Mastercard and Citi for this application.  What is interesting is that for now consumers will need an Android-powered smartphone with a near-field communications (NFC) chip, like that found in Google's own handset, Nexus S.

This year will go down as the one in which mobile payments will take off.  Jack Dorsey from Twitter has launched Square and mobile carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have similar aspirations.

As phones become our wallets - will people start to steal mobile phones?  That's something to think about - what do you think?

What do you think of retro packaging?

This past week my son brought home a retro package of Mountain Dew and it brought me back to my youth.  "Yahoo it's Mountain Dew" as an advertising tag line probably wouldn't cut it today.

Soda brands and cereal brands have been using throwback packaging for a couple of years.  Probably to add a little excitement to their brands when they don't have product improvements to tout.
What do you think of retro packaging?  Will you buy something with packaging from years back?  Would love to hear if this entices you to buy a product.  Let me know.

The rewards of being a Mentor

Recently I was at the 2011 Mentor Appreciation Dinner at the University of Minnesota.  It's a great event to celebrate the mentees and the mentors.  I've been doing this for over 7 years and truly enjoy the interaction with young marketing communication students.

My goal as a mentor is to provide guidance, support and understanding by sharing my experience and knowledge to give this young person a strong start into our exciting business. 

I believe that everyone should try and be a mentor at some point in their professional or personal careers - it's a chance to give back.  People often ask me what makes a good mentor and I've identified five areas:

1) Patience
2) Ability to listen
3) Be willing to give more than receive
4) Ability to engage in relationships
5) Respect

And I think that the third area of willing to give more than receive is of critical importance.  You have to be willing to invest the time and expect very little in return.

However, some days that return is huge.  I received an email last week from a person I had mentored briefly last fall.  This person had been struggling in trying to find a path in advertising.  We chatted and it become clear to me that this person was very passionate about music.  We talked and I encouraged her to pursue her passion and look for a position in the music industry. She did and got a great position with a music company and for that I'm very happy for me.

What she wrote in her note is what made me happy and proud.

"It was your encouragement and words of advice that gave me the courage to drive after my passion and discover my dream career, which promises an opportunity for me to one day also compose music for commercials.  I cannot thank you enough for lending yourself as a sounding board and helping me discover myself."

Wow that is the goal of every mentor to help springboard a person into an area that they want to be in.

So step back and think about - how can you help mentor someone to find their passion?  It just some times and some good listening skills - I know you can do it!

Bad Campaign = Arby's It's Good Mood Food

OK it's been running for a few weeks now but I want to officially say that the current Arby's campaign "It's Good Mood Food" is bad.  It does not communicate anything positive about the brand.  It's the type of campaign that actually makes you not want to go to the restaurant.

The tag line is so far from reality it is actually laughable - is that what they were trying for?

The spokes character is not a good singer.  And the spot with the bank robber taking a break to have a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich is just plain dumb.

This is the type of advertising that gives us advertising professionals a bad name.

C'mon Arby's you can't do better than that?  Does anyone else think this campaign is bad or is just me?

Top 10 Trends for 2011

This past Wednesday Ann Mack from JWT was at the Minnesota AdFed Breakfast talking about the Top 10 Trends for 2011 and beyond.

Ann is the Director of Trendspotting at JWT and they having been publishing trends for the last six years.  Here are the 10 trends that she says impacting us this year and beyond.

1) All the world's a game - It is all about gamifying life across all our lives.  She mentioned what http://www.epicwin.com/ and scvngr are doing as some fun new examples.
2) The urgency economy - the success of Groupon and other couponing sites show that deals are expanding far and wide. Impacts both value and high-end goods.  http://www.toviefor.com/ is a high end reverse auction site.
3) Non-commitment culture - Zipcar a prime example of people not being committed to cars and the growth of "pop-up" stores.
4) Eat, pray, tech - amazingly while overall the economy is soft - sales for tech goods are on the rise. The tablet market which sold 11.5MM units in 2010 is projected to sell 54.8MM in 2011.

5) Deteching - people who want to unplug from technology.  The NYTimes did a feature on four people who unplugged and chronicled their stories in a recent feature.  And we are just starting to realize the impact on critical thinking and that impact being negative.
6) Retail as a third space - Apple store as a prime example to go along with Starbucks.
7) Create urban renewal - What KFC did to repair potholes in Louisville and Kia's program called Drive Change in Canada.
8) Worlds collide - explosion of QR codes that enable brands to provide deeper data.  The reality of Minority Report coming to life with billboards in Japan.
9) Hyper Personalization - combined efforts of Bing and Facebook to search for old friends.  And of course the very successful Old Spice campaign from the summer of 2010.
10) Outsourcing self control - apps that don't let you text and drive and allow you only so much time on line,

Ann is a very articulate speaker and well versed on what is impacting our lives both professionally and personally.  If she writes about something take the time to read it.