Wishes for 2011

As we come to close of 2010 it is a time to think ahead to 2011. My wishes for 2011 will focus on the business world that we live in and not on broader issues like world peace - someone else will cover that off I'm sure.

So here goes my five wishes for 2011.

1) Continuing workplace collaboration - I truly believe that workplace collaboration is getting better and better each year and the benefits to all facets of business are very positive.

2) More authenticity - the longer I work in this business the more I appreciate working with people who are true to who they are. No pretenses and the focus is on the work and not all the other stuff that often gets in the way.

3) LAMSTAIH - this is "Look at more stuff. Think about it harder." The harder you work on something usually the better the outcome. So let's all take time to make sure that we are giving each project it's due.

4) Take more chances - keep pushing for new and different approaches. While it is easy to do it the same way - new successes happen only when people approach things differently.

5) Have more fun - everyone works hard and it is important to inject some fun into the day-to-day job. Hey if you don't like what you do - then it's time to turn the page and do something different.

So those are my five wishes for 2011 - what do you think? What are your wishes for 2011?

Top Three Business Books of 2010

We are at the time of year when everyone is talking about their favorite things of 2010 and lots of lists are created. So here goes my thoughts on my personal favorite business books of this year.

In no particular order they are:

-The Mesh by Lisa Gansky. This book highlights the importance of sharing in all that we do in what has become a very transparent world. Based on all the great digital media this book reinforces how business need to evolve and change in this new dynamic marketplace.

-Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. As the CEO of Zappos Tony has created an unbelievable culture of customer service. Very few companies can deliver this type of service and yet when Tony explains it - it all seems very easy to duplicate.

-The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmine Gallo. Certainly considered one of the best business presenters of our time - this is a fascinating look at how Steve delivers such terrific engaging presentations.

These three books cover a diverse range of business topics and they are the ones that made a big impact with me in 2010.

One book that I didn't get to finish this year was "Spend Shift" by John Gerezma. It's next on my list to read in 2011.

What books inspired you in 2010? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2011?

Do you Groupon?

Did you see the headline this week that Google offered to buy Groupon for $6 Billion - yes $6 Billion. This for a company that started up in Chicago in 2008 and yet does not have national distribution covering the entire country. Wow is all I could say and especially after Groupon turned down the offer.

So what is the magic behind Groupon? I first starting using Groupon this spring when a friend alerted me to the service. I've bought about 10 Groupon offers and have truly enjoyed the experience. Basically I've been able to eat at some great restaurants for half price. Got $50 worth of clothes at Gap for the kids for $25. Same thing for some great bakery items and just recently some car washes - basically a buy one get four for free offer. These are terrific consumer offers and who doesn't like a deal.

I'm sold on this brand and have certainly noticed the copycats that are springing up all over the place from the local newspapers and broadcast outlets. Heck the more offers to get goods and services at a discounted rate is great for consumers.

But what about the companies putting out the offers? Is this a good deal or not? I'd love to get more information if the program is successful at driving repeat business. We know it drives trial but what about repeat which is necessary for a business to thrive and grow.

It will be interesting to see how Groupon evolves. Certainly they can expand geography to grow the business. But will they be able to be a long-term play? Certainly Google thinks they can be. And Groupon must be pretty confident given they turned down $6 Billion.

This will be a great case study to watch unfold. What do you think will happen to Groupon? Let's have a conversation.

Why I like the British TV Ad Awards

This past Friday night I braved the little snow storm that welcomed the first weekend in December here in the Twin Cities to once again venture over to the Walker Art Center to view the British Telly Ad Awards.


I've attended this show for many years at the Walker and for the past five years we've went as a group - the Preston Kelly team to view them on opening night. It's fun to view the awards as a group and to get everyone's perspective after the show. We have account people, production people, designers, creatives, connections team members and importantly our two partners. So indeed a cross section of the PK team takes part in this annual event.



In recent years the show tended to be a little depressing due to economic themes and a lot of public service announcements. This year as a whole I walked out of the event feeling that the spots had more humor and some great story telling. And the production values were quite simple in some cases.



Anchor Free Range Butter used a very simple technique of a cow on a "velvet" type background - kind of like some stuff my daughter plays with. And Schweppes had a very simple - hard to describe format - very flat background with some human arms creating motion in a series of wonderfully crafted :15's. Some funny and very good writing.



And there was the annual Honda spot done very well and punctuated with the voice-over of one Minnesotan Mr. Garrison Keillor.



As more and more digital/viral videos come into the awards they in fact are retiring the name the British Television Ad Awards and renaming the program the British Arrow Ad Awards to recognize the broader spectrum of how and where ads run these days.



One spot that has really stuck with me was a 6 minute video for Johnnie Walker Whisky as it told the story of the man who walked around the world and did tell the story of how the brand came to be. Very, very well done.



I truly enjoyed the show and especially the humor this year. Making people feel good about a product/service is not a bad thing to do and humor can certainly capture your attention if done right and in the right tone.



So another year and some great work from across the Atlantic to admire. It's an inspiring show and makes you want to reach out and do better more inspiring work for our clients. So here we go as we start thinking about 2011 for our clients. And if you get a chance head over to the Walker to get inspired.

Holiday Shopping

Will you do more of your holiday shopping on-line or at retail outlets this year?

While I've been an on-line shopper for years - this year is the tipping point in which our family will be doing more on-line shopping versus visiting the retail store. Free shipping and great deals seem to be the rage this year for on-line shopping outlets.

The convenience of sitting on your laptop at home and picking stuff out has always been the draw for on-line shopping. But with all the incentives and free shipping this year - it is the year where on-line shopping will dominant in the Jenson household. Just last night on "Cyber Monday" we made some purchases on Land's End and got $20 off a purchase of $75 and received free shipping. With this benefit why would you even consider going out to a store and battle the crowds?

So this year we just put some Christmas music on the old iPod and shop away on the laptop. It's the future and for us this year we will be making the majority of our purchases on-line.

So how about you - are you going to be more of an on-line shopper or do you need to hit the stores to do your shopping? Let me know what your plans are.

How Goodby got back on track

When people in the advertising industry think about agencies that do great television advertising the usual names that come up are Fallon, BBDO, Crispin and Goodby Silverstein.

So I was excited to hear Derek Robson the Managing Director of Goodby talk about "Agency Evolution - Reinventing Goodby, Silverstein & Partners" at a Minnesota AdFed Breakfast this past Wednesday.

Derek was on the front line of the Agency Evolution at Goodby when he was brought in 2005 by Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein to change the course of the agency. The agency was fearful of becoming "irrelevant". This from an agency that typically churned out the best television creative year after year for clients like Saturn and Budweiser. But with tidal shift of interactive the leaders at Goodby felt that they were not ready for this shift.

Derek an Account Planner by trade from BBH in London set up a thorough assessment of GSP from clients, consultants, the trade press and from employees. His findings were pretty eye-opening. He heard often from the trade press they didn't align GSP with integration - ouch. And when visiting consultants he was able to see the video materials that other agencies sent out - very impressive "stories" about the integrated work that they did. He found that Goodby just had a TV reel and nothing else to show consultants. So clearly this was one thing that they needed to change - the "perception" that GSP was not just a TV shop but showing the other work that they indeed did.

His assessment was that things needed to change because in May '05 the creative work was 82% in traditional media and 18% interactive. Just one year later in May '06 it had changed to 58% traditional media and 42% interactive. So while the tidal wave of change was happening with the shift to increasing amounts of interactive work the creative department was staffed with more than half of the team being considered more traditional in their orientation. They started to shift this by pairing up a traditional and interactive creatives - and certainly there was turnover with those who were not willing to jump on the interactive bandwagon.

And since this shift in agency focus started five years ago - 75% of the staffed has turned over. They have recruited from areas like improv, gaming developers to content curators. It's a very impressive story and gives notice to all agencies out there to continue to evolve and change into a more digital mindset.

He closed with a great quote "Agencies of the future may not be the Agencies that have dominated in the past." How true this will be.

What do you think? Share your thoughts.

Great Email timing

This past Wednesday in the midst of the second day of "windy" bad weather here in the Twin Cities I got served a great email from Qdoba.

Headline of "Lousy weather got you down? Buy One, Get One at Qdoba!".

Perfect timing as the weather was horrible with 50+ mph winds and you know what a tasty burrito from Qdoba sure hit the spot.

Smart marketing and hats off to the good people at Qdoba for using their email program so effectively. Darn smart and my guess is that they will have other smart things coming down the pipeline.

Good products + good marketing usually mean success. I'll be watching to see what Qdoba does next - you should too!

Asking a good question

Last night I had the opportunity to speak at Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis to Professor Johnson's Integrated Marketing Class. My topic was Digital Marketing - where it is today and where it is going.

I truly enjoy the opportunity to go out and talk to prospective students about our business. To review some of the cool things that are happening in the digital space and to think ahead about what is next.

It was a great class last night and one thing that really stood out was how engaged the students were and the questions that they asked. "What is the one social platform that a company should be on when they start out?" Now that's a great question. Of course it depends on the type of business and of course the resources that they have to participate in social media.

And that was just one of the great questions that were posed. So all these great questions got me to thinking about the importance of asking a great or should I say a better question?

As brand strategists the ability to ask a better question is crucial to our success. The ability to uncover a key insight is paramount to building a great creative strategy and it usual comes from the ability to ask a great question.

So my challenge for the week is for all of us to ask a better question, dig just a little bit deeper and uncover that nugget of an insight that will help lead to a better creative idea. So let's go for it.

Sharing, Sharing, Sharing

Over the past week I've had some conversations about one of the key reasons why the Web is so important. And it all goes back to coin the old real estate war cry - location, location and location.

The web has been used as a great sharing tool by many, many people. Think of Wikipedia and what that would be if we didn't share things. Yes my post today is about the importance of sharing and how this drives so much of the web traffic today.

When I "Googled" the word sharing the first entry is called the web version of sharing "using or enjoying something with others". That is a great definition. Think about some of the popular social media platforms like "Facebook" and "Twitter" and the foundation of their success is clearly based on sharing. We like to share professional and personal stories etc. on these platforms.

The world has been developed on the basis of sharing. When Gutenberg first produced the Bible this become a way to share the word with more people. As Andrew Carnegie built libraries all over this country in the early 1900's he too was sharing with everyone.

And think of what has been shared over the last 20 years on the Web. It's mind boggling to think of the amount of knowledge and information that is out there for each and every one of us to consume and to broaden our knowledge base.

Sharing is why I love the Web. I love to see what other people in the advertising business are talking about. Just today I read a presentation by Aki Spicer of Fallon on "apps". What a great discussion piece on what an app is and if you should pursue it. Five years ago the only way that I would have ever seen this presentation if someone from Fallon would have forwarded it or sent me a copy. But today because of Slide Share it is readily accessible for one and all to see.

So I say hurrah for sharing! Let's all be transparent and share info with everyone. We can all make this world a better place with more sharing.

The power of a Thank You note

I received a beautiful hand written thank you note in the mail last week and it reminded me how powerful a note like that can be.

It is an art that seems to have been lost. Think about how many hand written thank you notes you get these days? Most likely none and some even come by way of email.

Yes I believe the hand written thank you note is a thing of the past for many people. This very simple act to send someone a thank you note for something that they have done - it is a powerful form of communication. If you don't write thank you notes I challenge you to write one. Go ahead pick up a pen and jot a note to someone - make their day.

I learned the art of writing notes from my Mother - one of the last great letter writers. She set a great example for me and I will try to do the same and to teach my children to do the same. It is sometimes easy to say oh I don't need to send a note because they never send me a note. But that attitude becomes pervasive and then no one writes thank you notes.

So take this challenge and send a hand written note to someone who has done something nice for you. Let's not let this simple act of common courtesy go by the wayside in our increasingly complex lives.

Smart Marketing - The Mesh

Earlier this summer I purchased an advance copy of Seth Godin's newest book - Linchpin. It's a great read for any in the business market.

But this post is not about that book but rather about a very smart marketing effort. Last night when I got home a package from Amazon was there. I had not ordered anything recently from Amazon so I quickly got the package open and discovered a book - The Mesh - by Lisa Gansky in it. I've heard about this book but had not ordered it.

I then opened up the book a letter from Seth Godin popped out. In the note from Seth he said he wanted to share this book with people who had purchased Linchpin. He said it has great insights into the future of business and he wanted to share this with people who share his same passion for business. All that he asks that if the book resonates with me that I buy a copy for a colleague.

Wow this is smart marketing. I will read the book because it is endorsed by Seth and not just because it is free. And yes I will "pay it backward" by buying a book for a colleague if I like it.

I think this Seth Godin guy is onto something about marketing. It's all about touch points and conversations with people.

I'll let you know what I think about this book when I'm done with it?

What do you think of this marketing approach? The utlimate in consumer trial a FREE book.

What do you think of Birthday Email coupons?

Have you signed up for any restaurant email loyalty programs? If so you have probably received some email coupons for your birthday to some of your favorite eating places.

Two days ago I received 10 - yes 10 birthday coupon emails about one week before my birthday and they all arrived on the same day. So I guess the magic day to send a birthday email coupon is one week before your birthday. I did not know that but I will file this away.

Some of the birthday email coupons are pretty simple - buy one item and get another free. Some of them are kind of tricky like Famous Dave's come in and we'll see if you get a free dessert or a free entree - I'm guessing they are giving away a lot more free desserts. Or Chili's is giving away a free sundae - hey don't you often get a free dessert on your birthday anyway? Chili's needs to step up it's game here. A smart thing that each of these brands does if to give you a few weeks or even a month to redeem.

The one brand that I think does a terrible job is Caribou. They send you an email for a free drink which is really nice but then they restrict it by saying it has to be on your birthday and you have to show a Photo ID? What? So if I'm out of town and miss my birthday I'm out of luck? Come on Caribou give me a few extra days. Fail!

The best email birthday coupon that I got was from Rainforest Cafe. It is a $10 off coupon on my next visit and it is good for 3 months! Now that is a smart email birthday coupon offer and one that I will most likely use.

The whole point of any loyalty program is to reward your users - make them feel good about the brand. So some of these brands have definitely under delivered but a brand like Rainforest Cafe is providing a good offer and a very easy to use time period. So they are my winning brand in the email birthday coupon sweepstakes.

Maybe I will get a more over the next few days. What do you think restaurant brands should deliver for a birthday email coupon? Let me know what your experience is.

What I learned at AdFed - 9/22

Had the opportunity to hear Jeff Dachis speak to the AdFed on Wednesday at the Metropolitan Ballroom. Jeff is a co-founder of Razorfish and now heads up his own consulting group in Austin.

It was just 10 years ago that Jeff spoke at AdFed and made the proclamation that everything that could be digital would be digital. So after that profound statement I was very curious to what he had to say about what's next.

He talked about how IT consumerization is upon us but interestingly numerous companies still "create work in silos - still doing things the same old way."

His vision for what's next is that we are quickly shifting to a social business model that will be more agile and easier to connect with everyone. For those of us in the marketing communications business that means that we can't just buy ads that shout at people but we need to become more engaged and connected with our consumers.

His definition of social business is:

"All of the web is becoming social. All business is done on the web. All business will be social business.

Beyond influence and media, the real opportunities lie in creating a more connected, collaborative, dynamic and participatory business."

This is some pretty cool, heady stuff.

His other major theme was the four archetypes of this model:

1) Ecosystem (connection systems) - a robust, integrated network of nodes and connections

2) Hivesmind (culture) - a primary social calibration that is active participation, engagement and involvement

3) Dynamic signal (communication process) - dynamic real time signals of all nodes in the ecosystem

4) Metafilter (filter measure) - online filters that measure patterns

To sum up his talk on social business he said "integration and aggregation is the key". How true that is.

A terrific presentation and dialogue with one of the great digital entrepreneurs of the last 15 years. If you ever have a chance to hear/chat with Jeff Dachis - do it because it is time well spent.

What do you think of his forecast for social business? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Can a brand be brought back from the dead?

While reading ADWEEK this past week this headline captured my attention - "Korey Kay to Relaunch Commodore".

OK you are trying to bring back an iconic brand from the dead and do you really believe that this can actually be a success. And they are actually going to spend $30MM in marketing support starting up later this fall.

This brand was launched in the early 1980's and then went bankrupt in 1994. So sixteen years after bankruptcy they are trying to revive the brand and bring it back.

This will fail - pure and simple. My reason is based on the fact that technology brands come and go so quickly that any affiliation of the past -and yes the 1990's are the past in the technology world - is doomed to fail. People want the newest and latest thing and how does Commodore think that people will give them an even chance against Apple or Dell. So anyone under the age of 25 probably doesn't know much about the Commodore brand so maybe they will have a chance but anyone that is over 25 and has any recollection of Commodore is going to immediately think "old, tired, dead" brand - which does not exactly equal success in the the technology world.

Instead of bring back a dead brand - which certainly has been done in other categories - I think the people behind this effort should stop this attempt and start over with a new brand. I just don't think people are going to get excited about a computer brand from the 1980's unless they are going to reminisce while they see it in a museum.

With technology brands I would recommend something new and I believe that Commodore is going to fail misearably with this re-launch. What do you think?

A Tagline that connected with a 12-year old

On a recent outing to a fast food restaurant my 12-year old son stated that the phrase that Taco Bell uses "Think Outside the Bun" is pretty good.

So I asked him what does this mean? He said "Taco Bell is trying to be different than everyone else - that you just don't have to have burgers." Well that pretty much sums it up very effectively for the Taco Bell brand experts. The impression that their tag line has made with my son is spot on and I'm sure that are thrilled each and every time someone reiterates their thoughts on this tag line. It's simple and it is very clear and gives Taco Bell a clear point-of-difference in the marketplace.

Tag lines are definitely very powerful when they hit the mark. Whether it's the classics like - "Just Do It" by Nike and "Think Different" by Apple. Lines like this are worth millions for their brands and provide terrific messaging platforms to communicate to their guests.

The cool thing about a great tag line is that it can work for a big or small brand. And good tag lines can be timeless - like Hallmark's classic "When you care enough to send the very best" or from Trix Cereal "Silly Rabbit Trix are for Kids".

Tag lines are very important when you are building a brand - so take the time to uncover a powerful one.

What's your favorite tag line?

It IS all about the Brand Experience

What is a brand experience? It can be a banner ad, a radio spot a billboard and for retailers certainly the point of contact in a store is an important one.

No matter what the brand experience is - the impact it can have on a brand is enormous

I've had the opportunity to work on a fast food brand in the past. It's a fun, exciting category that is full of tough competitors. And each and every day the brand is built one guest at a time. A brand that I have often marveled at has been Sonic. My first experience with Sonic was down in Florida and each and every time they over delivered. The food was tasty, the service was prompt and courteous and overall it was a great brand experience.

This past Sunday evening we decided to visit a Sonic on the east side of St. Paul. We've been there before and have had good brand experiences. However, this past Sunday night all the good things that the Sonic brand means to me were severely damaged. One bad brand experience and all those positive impressions I've had in person and all the millions of dollars of positive marketing support were diminished.

It took about 10 minutes for them to take our order and then we proceeded to wait 30+ minutes for our food. Isn't this a fast food restaurant? And they weren't even busy - with the parking lot at about 25% of capacity. The staff seemed very nonchalant and not at all interested in serving their guests in a prompt and timely manner. I truly wonder how the store owner would have felt if he would have seen this happen.

So the Sonic brand is a quite tarnished from my perspective. And all because of one brand experience that was very disappointing. So the the next time you hear a store owner talk about how important the brand experience is - you should be listening. No matter how good the marketing is, no matter how good the food quality is - if the customer service is bad - the entire brand takes a hit.

I can only hope that my next Sonic brand experience is a little better. But I have a feeling it might be six months away when we next visit Florida. It IS all about the brand experience for retailers each and every day. Any good or bad brand experiences that you want to share?

Celebrating the birthday of Lemonade

Supposedly today is the the 380th birthday of Lemonade - of course different sources claim differently but for me I'm going to celebrate it today.

Lemonade is a great summer beverage. I remember all those Country Time Lemonade TV spots and the idyllic settings that they portrayed. Simpler times meant peaceful laid back times in those spots.

And when I think of Lemonade it does take me back to my childhood. It was the beverage of choice that my Mom would offer instead of a soda. Even though there can be more sugar in lemonade than some sodas - because it said "Lemon" it must have been healthier.

My belief is that anything that takes you back to your childhood summers is a good thing. Lots of outside play time and no school. Growing up in North Dakota our summers were pretty carefree - swimming pool and playing outside games in the neighborhood. My kids got to enjoy that last weekend. We had no Internet and I got them to stay away from the TV. They read and played games in the park with their cousins and walked uptown to my brother's Variety Store. They love that and can spend lots of time looking at all the toys and candy. Of course a few free samples from Wayne's bulk candy always makes a day better.

This year they really got to experience a few summer days like I did growing up. Simpler times and they had a blast. My son always say I love going to North Dakota because all our cousins just come over to Grandma's house - we don't have to set up "get together" dates with our friends. How true, how true.

So as I sit here today and think back on those fun childhood times I'm glad a glass of Lemonade can bring back a cascade of great memories. Have a glass today and savor the last few weeks of the summer of 2010. Enjoy.

An empty household

On Monday morning we packed up our two kids and they headed off to two different camps in central Minnesota. They were nervous with excitement and wondering what the next week held in store for them. Hey, it's camp, it's a nice warm summer in Minnesota and they get to be surrounded by beautiful lakes what's not to like.

Meanwhile my wife and I were about to experience something that we hadn't since July of 1998. An empty household. Yes for the first time in 12 years we were going to be spending a week at our house with no children. What are we going to do?

We of course had grand plans for dining out every night at restaurants with white table cloths and evenings of summer leisure time. Oh the wonderful times that lay ahead.

So far we have experienced cooking a meal for a teenage safe house on Monday evening. And then we had to spend some time on the phone and on the Internet trying to rustle up some additional players for our daughter's soccer team for this fall since they were very short of players. So the first night of leisure time slipped away very quickly.

Last night we did sneak in a nice dinner at Kozy's in Edina. But then after that we had birthday shopping to do for Anders. Barnes & Noble, Old Navy and Target. My Foursquare account was hitting the jackpot with all these new places in Edina. We were then trapped in the Target given the torrential downpour that occurred last night. We eventually got home and had to deal with water seepage in one of our windows.

The grand plans really haven't taken the initial shape that we had. So after two evenings at home with no kids we haven't really relaxed. And tonight we need to do some major cleaning and prepping for an out of town wedding.

So our one week as "empty nesters" has really turned out to be quite busy and not so relaxing. And yes we miss the kids. They bring a level of excitement and energy to our house each and every day. We feel blessed to have them. Quiet peaceful nights at home can wait, at least for me.

What a great Ballpark

Our family recently took a trip to Washington D.C. While we of course took in all the sights of D.C. we also took in a game at the Nationals Stadium. Every summer trip usually means a stop in a MLB stadium or a Minor League park somewhere.

We were totally impressed with the game experience at the Nationals Stadium. From the minute we ordered tickets on-line to the game to the post game email asking us about our experience this was customer service as it should be. If all sports venue treated their fans like this we would all go to more events.

The staff at the stadium was attentive and all the stuff going on before the game on their center field plaza from bands playing, having the four Presidents from Mount Rushmore in costume and dancing on the party plaza - it was a party atmosphere. The Philadelphia Phillies were in town and they brought a lot of fans with which created almost a play-off like atmosphere.

Our kids got their pictures taken with all the Presidents and Screech the Nationals mascot and we even got a free bobble head of Nyjer Morgan as the game giveaway.

I had a "Half-Smoke" from Ben's Chili Bowl a D.C. legendary eatery and it was tasty.

The stadium is laid out perfectly with a huge entry point in center field and this is only one block from the Metro (their subway). Easy to get to and love the accessibility.

Oh yes and it was a great game as the Nationals won 7-5 with a 3 run walk off home run by Ryan Zimmerman. A perfect summer night watching baseball at the perfect baseball park. Great job by the Nationals. If you're a baseball fan you will love this park.

Back in the late 1990's I worked on a very fun account the Polaris Recreational Vehicles (snowmobies, ATV's, motorcycles and personal watercrafts) account at Martin Williams. I had the opportunity to help launch a new brand positioning platform for the brand and it was a lot of fun and a great experience.

We proposed a brand video to help ground all Polaris employees in our new brand position and brand theme line "The Way Out". In the opening scenes of the video our Executive Creative Director Lyle W. wrote an incredible piece of copy that pretty much summed up the experience of riding a Polaris vehicle.

It went something like this: "The feeling I get when I go out on a ride is like the feeling you have when you wake up on a Saturday morning the first day of your vacation - a sense of freedom and excitement and the feeling of getting away from it all."

The line of copy from a very powerful video has always stuck with me and tomorrow morning I will have that feeling again when I wake up as I'm off on vacation.

Vacations are very important tools to help us re-charge our batteries whether we go and experience new things or go back to familiar places. The trip that our family is about to embark upon is one of a bunch of new experiences. I'll post more when we are back - but right now I'm thinking of the great feeling I'll have when I wake up tomorrow and I'll remember to thank Lyle for penning such a wonderful thought.

It's a long race

Last night I had the chance to visit Target Field again and saw one of the two World Series trophy that the Minnesota Twins have.

It's always a cool thing to see a World Championship trophy and to think about how hard the people associated with the team worked to win it. It also reminded me that any success professional is usually a long race. Wins are usually not secured in a short period of time, but rather it is a long distance race.

To win over the long haul you need have a goal and be prepared to stay on your strategic course. You may get some early results that indicate you are right on target. And then you may hit some bumps on the road and you veer slightly off course. Pretty much like a typical MLB season for most teams. You win some, you lose some and then you have some close games and if you win a majority of them - you end up having a successful season.

So while you are managing a brand for your client you need to have this stick-to-it-tiveness also. You will have some great sales days and you might have some days that do not perform up to your goals. But you take away learning from that and keep executing to the strategies that you laid as the foundation for your plan.

When you are managing your brand - just make sure you keep your eyes on the prize. It's a long way to the finish line and you need to stick with your plan - make some slight tweaks to keep you on task. It's a long race - just be prepared to stay focused on your goals and good things tend to happen.

Great Customer Service by Apple

When I get great customer service it strikes a chord with me. Apple has continually delivered terrific customer service across many touch points that I've had with them.



My current example is that I needed to set up my voice mail account on my new iPhone4 and to do that I needed to recall the password that I set up once back almost 3 years ago. Well I didn't remember so I started to look for ways to talk to a live customer service person for Apple.



Found the number and in under 90 seconds was talking live to a very pleasant sales rep. Everything worked out great and he got my new voice message box set up.



So when I got the email survey today to fill out I was more than happy to provide some very positive feedback. It was at the conclusion of the survey that once again Apple over delivered. A very simple "thank you" page in many different languages. This is so smart and so Apple.



Thanks again Apple for another great customer service experience.

Old Spice = Wildfire

Wow, this campaign is on fire. Everywhere you turn people are talking about the recent launch of the newest Old Spice campaign. Yesterday I saw some of the videos in my Facebook stream. And then last night I saw the brilliant TV spot during the MLB All-Star Game which reminded me to look at their Facebook page and Twitter pages this morning.

If W & K is producing these videos in real time and using Twitter posts and other posts to make the spots they have broken some new ground in the new marketing world.

This is the campaign of the future and it's fun to see it evolve over time - or the last 48 hours or so. Put a comment up on Twitter and then have the brand respond back to you with not just a comment but a video answering your question. Would love to have been in the room as this concept took hold. How cool must it have been to present and sell this to P & G?

Hats off to W & K for the idea and P & G for the foresight to say move forward.

Although Old Spice has been smartly re-positioning the brand over the past couple of years I really think this campaign will provide the rocket fuel to change every one's perception of this brand that has been around for a long time. I grew up with the Old Spice "whistle" campaign and frankly it was a yawner.

This new campaign totally takes the brand to much more modern and hip place and is a brand that now appeals to the young male audience. Good idea to grab them young and create a lifetime customer.

It's campaigns and work like this that make this an exciting business.

So who's next? What brand is going to do something so spectacular that the next wildfire is lit.

Have you heard of Oxytocin?

In a recent Fast Company issue there was an article on the subject of "oxytocin". OK so I'm curious and wondered what the heck is oxytocin? It is a hormone produced daily by our brains. Dr. Paul Zak a professor of Claremont Graduate University is the expert on this subject and he popularized "neuroeconomics" and emerging field that combines economics with biology, neuroscience and psychology.

He believes that Oxytocin is the key (not to be confused with the pain-killer oxycontin). Known as the hormone responsible for the bond between moms and their babies, oxytocin is now recognized as impactful for marketers to connect with their customers.

During his various studies over the past decade Dr. Zak has measured chemical reactions and his results are very interesting. In fact a key finding was that social networking may increase a person's oxytocin levels, and this means heightened feelings of trust, emphaty and generosity. Think about how brands can tap into this opportunity via social media messaging. They will be able to make their Facebook "likers" even stronger "likers" - maybe we could even call them "lovers".

So the simple message if you believe in what Dr. Zak is studying is that brands that clearly connect with us as consumers and raise our oxytocin levels will do well in the future. And those that can't won't.

It's time to start raising the oxytocin levels of your customers. It can't hurt can it?

What consumers watch

Nielsen just presented some interesting stats about the weekly time spent by age demographic in the U.S. for the first quarter of 2010. While these numbers should not be a shock to me - it is always a little eye-opening when you see how much time people are using technology each week.

-Watching Traditional TV = 35 hours and 34 minutes
-Watching Timeshifted TV = 2 hours and 9 minutes
-Using the Internet - 3 hours and 52 minutes
-Watching Video on Internet = 20 minutes
-Mobile subscribers watching Video on a mobile phone = 4 minutes

Despite all the notices that TV viewing is dying - viewers watched two more hours of TV per month in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the first quarter of 2009. How about you do you think you're watching more TV than last year.

My TV viewing is way under half of the average U.S. viewer. They have their televisions on for more than 5 hours each and every day. I'm sure part of the increase can be due to the rapid growth of more content and better quality with HDTV's. Nielsen reports that 52.7% of US homes now have HDTVs and receive HDTV signals.

I'll make this prediction right now. I bet that TV viewing in the first quarter of 2011 will increase again. Yes that is a bold prediction. But the trends continue to point to American viewers spending more time on the couch than doing other things.

Still going strong after 25 years

I recently read in the advertising trade press that a brand that I worked on many years ago and was part of the agency team that helped introduced it is getting some strong marketing support again after a few years with limited support.

Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce is a brand that I first started working on back in 1985 when I was at FCB in Chicago working on the Kraft business. I also worked on regular Kraft and Kraft Thick 'n Spicy BBQ Sauce brands. It was a fun category and a really smart group of people were involved in managing the various products.

I've been a supporter of Bull's-Eye for the past 25 years and when I buy the category I always buy Bull's-Eye. Yes I'm a loyal supporter of the brands that I've worked on.

Strategically I loved the positioning of the product of "big bold flavor" which allowed us to flank one of the new brands at that time K.C. Masterpiece. The product delivery was outstanding and the package design was terrific and it still is. At that time there was no mention of Kraft as the manufacturer as we wanted the brand to be seen as an upstart boutique brand to fight off the local competitors that were nicking into Kraft's overall share of market.

The product was a hit from Day One and continues to be on the shelf now 25 years later. It's kind of cool to sit back and reminisce about the people that worked on the brand and some of the tactics that we used to launch the brand. We did things like send the product to "stars" of the markets that we entered to get some buzz going. And we ran full-page newspaper ads with the stores that the product was located in to drive distribution.

I guess in looking back - there were smart people involved + smart marketing ideas = a long term product success. So thanks to Joe, Karen, Len, Mike from Kraft and to Terri, Linda, Gary, Marian, Dan and many others at FCB. That launch was a lot of fun.

Congrats Bull's-Eye and good luck to the teams that will carry it another 25 years.

First week with the new iPhone4

Last Wednesday I got an email from Apple and I had to pick up my new iPhone4 by the end of the day on Thursday. Well needless to say I was excited about this but I had to first of all work during the day and then in the early evening attend our kid's city qualifying track meet.

I made it out to the Mall of America Apple store by 9AM - they close at 9:30. So I went through the process pretty quickly and was out the door by 9:20. The new iPhone4 looked great and I was excited to try it out.

Spent an hour getting it set-up at home that night and getting all my info transferred from my old iPhone (the original version).

Here are my thoughts after spending a week with the new iPhone4.

-I love the screen and clarity of it.

-The design is sleek

-It's fast - so much faster than my old iPhone

-Battery charge seems to be much stronger also

-Love the video feature although I haven't edited anything yet

-Love having a flash on the camera - some night pictures turned out pretty good

-Reversible camera (front or back view) is cool technology

-32g of space - will take me a long time to fill this one up versus my 8g which couldn't hold everything that I wanted it to.

So my perspective after the first week - is that the iPhone4 rocks. there are plenty of things that I haven't done with it yet but I'm looking forward to reviewing the 200+ page owners manual that Apple has up on it's website. A 200+ page manual for a phone. That pretty much sums up what this phone can do. And I'm excited to test the boundaries of it.

Apple once again hits a home run with this product.

How do you read the newspaper?

The headline from an article today from the Center for Media Research caught my attention. It read "123 million Americans reading newspapers on the web".

According to a new comScore release more than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57% of the total U.S. Internet audience. These are some seriously big numbers.

So newspapers aren't dead yet - it's just that consumers are reading the papers on a different platform - online. Tell the New York Times with 32 million visitors a month that their newspaper is dead. So while circulation is down significantly for newspapers - Americans are consuming as much news as they ever have.

Online newspapers are the future for the newspaper industry. Their ability to capture revenues through online advertising will allow them to continue and potentially even thrive again as they re-tool their business model.

How do you consume the newspaper - if you do? For me I still love to get the paper in the morning and browse through the headlines. I might check online during the day at their website or though the daily email they send me on the story headlines of the day. And at night I go through it thoroughly to dig a little deeper into the key stories of the day.

I just love the feel of the newspaper and will always enjoy that early morning time. No matter where I'm at - I need to get my daily newspaper fix. I'm sure over time as the newspaper evolves I may be reading it more and more online. But until then count me in as an old fashioned newspaper reader.

How about you - how do you read the newspaper?

Saint Paul Saints Still Doing it Right

My wife called late on Wednesday afternoon and said I just got four free tickets to the Saint Paul Saints game tonight - do you want to go?

Not hard to answer that question - it's baseball, it's summer and it's beautiful weather - you can count me in. I had to pick up my son and then meet my wife and daughter at the game.

Given that this is the first season where the Minnesota Twins are playing outdoors I thought what will it be like at the Saints game? The crowd? The extra stuff? What will they do different?

After parking in a lot nearby Midway Stadium my son and I saunter up to the main parking lot and see the smoke from all the tailgating - check that hasn't changed. We get closer to the stadium there is a band playing outside - apparently it is Walser Wednesday. They are also serving free hot dogs and bottled water so we make a stop to get some free stuff before we enter the gates of Midway. Nice touch by the Saints of course.

As we enter the ticket entrance area at the stadium we look up and look who is our ticket taker - Mike Veeck the owner of the Saint Paul Saints. He warmly greets us and asks how we are doing and most importantly utters the words - "Thanks for coming out tonight".

That is customer service. The owner telling us thanks for coming out tonight. Right then we knew that the Saint Paul Saints are still doing it right. It was a well played game (Saints win 3-2) with some decent baseball. Some really nice catches by the Saints left fielder and a long home run by the Saints first baseman. And of course all the great in between innings promotions.

Our customer experience at the Saint Paul Saints was terrific last night. Great baseball, great promotions, great weather, great seats (FREE) and a greeting from the owner. So yes in our opinion the Saint Paul Saints are still doing it right. And we hope for many years to come.

Apple Store Shopping Experience

Last Saturday I dropped my son off at a library in Uptown in Minneapolis for a video game class. A few hours and what to do? Well I knew that a new Apple Store had opened one week ago in this neighborhood so I set off to take a look.

In the back of my mind this was also a chance to order the new iPhone4. My current iPhone is the original version and it has been my companion for over two and a half years. It's been starting to show it's age as the battery capacity seems to be getting less and less with each passing week.

I walk in the store and I'm not five feet in the door when a salesperson approaches me and asks how he can help. That was prompt customer service and as I look around the store I see plenty of sales team members and customers and everyone seems quite happy - it is a fun time I'm sure to work for Apple and certainly an exciting time for a customer given the recent release of the iPad and this next gen iPhone.

I get some of the specifics of the new iPhone4 - the video camera - how easy that is to edit, the improved camera with front and back capabilities, photo flash and yes improved battery life. Just then I realized that not one mention was mad of the phone's primary responsiblitiy - it's a cell phone. It's amazing isn't it that the smartphones are all about the other stuff beside the original use of it being a cell phone. Heck that's a given - it's all the bells and whistles that truly matter when you buy a smartphone.

So after five minutes of not so hard sales talk - I'm ready to buy and my order is taken on an iPad. Smart job by Apple to order it this way and then show me how cool the iPad is and don't you want one of those. Well I'm going to wait on the iPad.

I'm really looking forward to getting the new iPhone4 and seeing how it works. I'm sure the phone will work great but I'm looking forward to the camera and video camera and of course all those apps that I enjoy.

It is an easy shopping experience at Apple. I just hope that they don't disappoint me in terms of how long it will now take to get the iPhone4. It's already been three days and I don't have it yet.

What I Learned at SMBMSP#27

Last Friday I had the opportunity to sit in on SMBMSP#27 at the Target Center in Minneapolis and to hear the panel talk about how social media is impacting sports.

It was great panel including Candice Wiggins of he Minnesota Lynx, Gregg Litman from WCCO, Matt Teske of the St. Paul Saints, Scott Spiridigliozzi of the MN T-Wolves and Austin Stair Calhoun from the U of M Tucker Center.

@candicewiggins started things of by saying that "Twitter is like Cheers - it's a friendly place." She has been involved in Twitter before the WNBA had any special rules around the platform. "We didn't have any social media training from the WNBA - I just started doing it."

Candice was very articulate and very interested in using social media to build her own personal brand but to also hear what fans had to say. She is using Twitter more of a fan interface than Facebook right now.

@mattteske from the St. Paul Saints talked about how "Social media really breaks down the walls. Allows us to have great fan interaction that we couldn't have before. We can react very quickly to our guests."

@liozzi from the MN Timberwolves talked about how they want to be more "transparent" with their fans. They've had various Twitter/Facebook events since starting to ramp up in the Spring of 2009.

It was a good session in a very interesting space - Target Center with only about 200+ people in the stands. Good panel and was worth the time investment to hear the panel and Q & A. Nice job SMBMSP for putting on this session. Looking forward to what's next in July.

My first MLB Game

On this date in 1968 I saw my first Major League Baseball game at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN. It was between the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins.

My dad and a friend of his John Salwei and I were sitting up in the third deck between home and first base. A pretty high view but for me it was magical. I will never forget the first time we came out of the ramp and I saw the perfectly manicured green grass of the old Met.

In the fourth inning of that game Harmon Killebrew hit a foul ball and we caught it. What a thrill for me. My first MLB game and we got a foul ball from Harmon.

Here it is 42 years later and I've still got that ball. I held onto it for 21 years before I got it signed by Harmon at a card collectors show at the Met Center. He was amazed that I had keep the ball that long. I've still got that ball in a little trophy case (picture above) and it is something I cherish and I will pass along to my kids. It is more for sentimental value than any genuine worth.

Baseball is a game that I'm passionate about it. Whether it was playing the game while growing up to collecting baseball cards and now being an ardent fan. I love all the intricacies of the game, the strategy and the wonderful execution by such talented athletes.

I'm enjoying passing along my passion to my kids as we attend several Twins games a year and we usually see one spring training game in Florida and venture to a different major or minor league park every summer. Baseball is a wonderful game for memories and I enjoy reading about players that played before I was born.

Baseball is a great game and I'm glad that I caught the bug for the game early in my life. And I thank my Dad for taking me to that first game. He helped instill in me the passion for the wonderful game of baseball. 42 years later that passion still burns for the game.

Happy Father's Day

Today is a day that I remember all the great things that my dad did for me. It has been almost sixteen years since I lost my Dad.

There are so many great memories of him and thinking back I cherish each one of them.

My dad was a great teacher of life. He passed down to me and my siblings the lessons of life that his father had taught him. My dad was hard working, honest and full of integrity. If my dad said he was going to do something - he did it.

He cared about people and loved to meet and talk with new people - he had an insatiable curiosity. My dad was a collector - whether it was cars, antiques or coins or watches he loved his collections and shared many hours with family and friends discussing them.

One of my favorite memories of him was on a childhood vacation up in Canada at Banff in Alberta. It was the fourth of July and we had a snowball fight. Why do I remember this - because my dad was fun loving and loved to joke around.

After I was out of college I was able to take a vacation with my Mom and Dad to Europe. We spent time in England and Switzerland. It was a great trip and one I look back on very fondly. We had planned to go to Norway the summer that he had passed away and I was so looking forward to that. My dad was very proud of his Norwegian heritage. My Mom and I still made that trip that summer to honor him and I'm so grateful that we did. I know Dad was watching over us then.

My dad was very important to me and I know that as the days go by I often catch myself doing things, saying things my dad would say. How does that happen?

Not just today but especially today I want to thank my dad for all he did for me. I miss not being able to say "Happy Father's Day" to him.

Crowdsourcing a new frontier

This past Wednesday at MIMA I had the opportunity to hear one of the founders of Victors and Spoils the world's first creative agency built on crowd sourcing principles. John Winsor is the CEO (twitter.com/jtwinsor)of this agency that debuted six months ago.

The Wikipedia definition of "crowd sourcing" is a nelogistic portmanteau of "crowd" and "outsourcing" for the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to a large group of people or community through an open call.

Clearly this is a very different way to operate a marketing communications agency by tapping into a variety of sources even more so than "freelancing" that often happens across the industry.

John is a true entrepreneur and has started several businesses in his career but this is the most ambitious endeavor he has set out to establish. He gave several examples of the successes that they have had like the recent work for Dish Network that was recently written up in Ad Age (6/3/10).

The good things that he sees out of crowd sourcing are things like:

-Tapping into world class talent
-Fast
-No barriers
-No legacy issues

However, like any business model there has to be a down side and my guess is that there has to be some legal issues in what they are doing. What if one of the people that is working for them works on a competitive piece of business? How the heck does that work? What is the compensation model? How does the relationship work with the client?

There are lots of questions as to how crowd sourcing will expand. I believe there will be growth in this area but is this the answer for the next generation of ad agency? That is the big unknown. What do you think?

The greatest coach ever?

Yesterday in Los Angeles John Wooden was laid to rest. Over the past couple of weeks a lot has been written about this coaching icon of college basketball. Coach Wooden won a record 10 NCAA Men's Basketball titles in a row in the 1960's and 1970's. I grew up watching those great teams led by Bill Walton, Sidney Wicks and Dave Myers.

But as those years have passed by I've found out what a great man Coach Wooden was. A very humble Midwesterner from Indiana he led by example. Great books and for me his great quotes have left lasting impressions.

"When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur . . . Seek small improvement one day at a time. That's the only way it happens and when it happens it lasts."

The testament to any great coach is the respect that he builds with his players. Clearly John Wooden is at the top of this pyramid. When you read the stories of so many of his former players flying in from around the country and world to visit him in the hospital in his last days you see the true impact of this man. Coach Wooden was more than just a coach to his players at UCLA. He was a leader with great wisdom and character.

That is respect. That is as good as it gets.

My favorite John Wooden quote has always been,

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."

Coach Wooden was a great man, a great teacher and a great family man. We should all strive to attain these accolades. Rest in peace Coach Wooden and thanks for all your wisdom that you've shared with everyone.

What will be your summer adventure?

Summer officially started in our house last Tuesday evening with the end of the Minneapolis Public School year. Kids are excited for new adventures this summer and a break from the day to day regimen of school.

So we've got a very varied schedule this year as they are trying different camps and programs throughout the Twin Cities. My wife has developed a very interesting schedule for them that should provide some interesting and fun activities. Things like a video game camp, chess camp, camera camp to mention a few. And even a week long camp for each of our kids in central Minnesota on a couple of cool lakes.

And isn't that what summer should be - kids trying new things - having some new adventures?

So do you try and do this in your professional life? Try some new things and do some different things or do you just keep your same routine going?

At Preston Kelly we are bringing some new training initiatives forward for our team - for us to become better presenters. And importantly this will extend throughout the year and not just end this summer. But it is one thing that I will be doing to learn new things this summer.

What about you - what are you going to try and do different this summer? C'mom you've got to try something? What about really engaging on Twitter? Try to post two things a day. Or get engaged on foursquare and see what the buzz is all about. There are plenty of things to learn if you just stretch yourself and try something new and different.

Happy summer adventures to all.

Giving Back to your Community

Giving back to the community is a principal that was taught very early to me by my parents. In a small town you often see the community pull together to help keep it moving forward.

Since I left my hometown when I was 17 and off to college I've had the opportunity to live in two major metropolitan areas - Chicago and the Twin Cities.

I have been very impressed by how each large metropolitan area support so many charity events and causes that benefit so many in these communities.

This past weekend I attended two events to benefits things close to our family. On Friday night we attended the annual school carnival at my daughter's elementary school - Michael Dowling Urban Environmental School in Minneapolis. It was a great night to see all the students, parents and school staff mingle and share some fun and great conversation. We make it a point to attend every school fundraiser that we can. We know that the funds are going to help children and what could be more important than that.

On Saturday morning we attended the American Heart Association Start Walk event at Target Field in Minneapolis (picture above). Attended by over 10,000 walkers from all over the metro area it is so good to see the large health care organizations and financial institutions like U.S. Bank there to support the community. This is a cause close to us because our son has congenital heart disease and we truly appreciate all that AHA does to help find solutions.

Giving back to your community is important. And it doesn't what cause you support or give back just find a way to donate your time or money to help make your community better. It certainly makes our family feel better when we support our community.

Social Media and Beer?

I'm thinking a headline with "beer" in it may capture the attention of many beer drinkers at least.

This morning I'm walking into the office and see this billboard with the headline "Best social medium Twitter or beer? The product is Summit Beer. They have a very smart tag line "Get to the bottom of it" - drink a glass of Summit and it will help you get through the discussion.

Smart creative work by a local Twin Cities agency I believe GDB.

My observation on this clever billboard is that "Twitter" is now becoming part of our normal everyday conversation. Only 17 million people use Twitter yet we can now use the brand in a headline because the brand awareness of Twitter is over 90%. This is a headline that would not have worked as effectively only 12 months ago but today it is spot on.

Being a heavy Twitter user I found this headline very thought provoking and the medium was perfect. So a shout out to Summit Beer and their ad agency for a smart outdoor board. Nice work everyone.

Also being a heavy user of Foursquare I'm waiting for the first brand to use this social media platform in their mass communication. How long before that happens? Would love to hear what you think.

Are you a game changer?

That's a pretty big question isn't it. Are you a game changer in your job? In your personal life?

I'm reading or actually listening to a book (on a CD) on Babe Ruth called "The Big Bam" by Leigh Montville a writer from Sports Illustrated. It's not a new book but it is a very in depth look at the life of Babe Ruth. The writing reminds me of David Halberstam and how deeply he took you into the subject he was writing about.

Babe Ruth was the most significant game changer for our national past time. He completely changed the way baseball was played back in the 1920's. His efforts made the game more interesting and still serve as the platform for how teams play today over 90 years later. Power baseball with home runs being more important than the "singles" game that preceded this era.

So being a game changer in your industry would put you in very select company- Henry Ford in the automobile business, Johnny Unitas in football and maybe Bill Bernbach for advertising. These three people were pioneers in their fields and their legacies continue today.

Not everyone can have this much impact in their business. But you can certainly have impact in the areas that you are involved with. Can you get a brand to do something that they haven't done before? Can you champion a new product or service for a company? Can you write a book on something that you are passionate about?

The question really becomes are you willing to fly? Are you willing to take a chance and take that big risk? Are you willing to really try something different?

Game changers answer yes to all of these questions. How about you do you want to change the game with your current company? Your current team? Go ahead and try because that is what makes our country so great. Let's all be game changers in our own individual ways. We can't all be Babe Ruth be we can certainly have an impact on our own environments.

Social Media the 4 E's

I truly enjoy social media and believe that as a marketer it is critical to understand how it works.

Recently, Jeffrey Hayzlett the CMO for Kodak talked about how this organization is using social media and what they want to achieve - they call it "Kodak's 4 E's".

1) Engage
2) Educate
3) Excite
4) Evangelize

I believe that these are four very smart tenets for any organization as they wade into the social media waters.

You need to engage the entire organization to get involved and participate in social media.

Provide education to the team to make sure that they know about the best practices and how to get involved.

You need to excite the organization about this marketing tool that is for today and what the future will be all about.

You need to evangelize the team behind the brand. If your own team is not telling the good stories about your brand who will?

Social media makes it possible to reach all your customers at the same time, which is how mass media has traditionally worked. But social media has the potential to reach your customers in a more personalized way and to make that connection with your brand stronger.

Are you loyal?

"Loyalty demands participation, the rest is simply wishful thinking."

I love quotes and this one really hits home for me. Yesterday as I was driving home I pulled up to a stop light and right in front of me was one of my client's vehicles wrapped with the creative that we developed for HealthPartners.

For me I love to see Preston Kelly client stuff out in the marketplace -whether it's a new TV ad for Grand Casino, a billboard for the YMCA, a radio spot for Be the Match and on and on . . . Or it's shopping every Saturday morning at Rainbow Foods, doing some shopping out at the Mall of America or taking a weekend visit with the kids to the Minnesota Zoo. These are just some of the clients of our agency that I love to support.

Supporting clients is something that was instilled in me early on in my career when I worked at Campbell Mithun. One of my mentors preached the importance of using the agency's clients products and services.

I remember the first brand that I worked on was Crispy Wheats 'n Raisins a General Mills product. That first shopping trip after I started working on the brand was out to a local grocery store in Minneapolis. I sat in the cereal aisle for a few minutes observing people as they made their choices. It wasn't long before a customer came by and picked up a box of Crispy Wheats 'n Raisins. I remember that moment and how cool I felt that a customer was buying a product that I worked on. And then I preceded to walk over and put in that same brand of cereal into my cart - oh yes client loyalty.

So today I take pride and feel the need to always be looking for a way to support the clients of our agency. Whether it is using their products or services or visiting their businesses I believe in the importance of supporting them. And I love to see their TV, radio, newspaper outdoor ads across the Twin Cities and following them in the digital space.

Client loyalty is important and I'm proud of the clients that we work with. How about you are you proud of the clients you work with?

What happens when you wear a red shirt to Target?

It's a normal Monday evening and I need to make a stop at Target to pick up a few things before heading home for dinner. I stop at the Target on East Lake Street where we normally shop.

I'm going through the front door of the store and in the first five seconds a man approaches me and asks if I can help him find something. I said I'd be happy to do but I don't work here at Target. I pointed him in the right direction.

As I wonder my way back into the store a boy about 9 comes up to me and again asks me can you help me find the toy section. I said sure I can point you in the right direction but I don't really work here. He says but how come you have a red shirt on then?

OK there is the key. I'm wearing a classic "red" polo shirt that is the official uniform of the Target team. Although at least I'm wearing jeans and not "khaki's" or I would have truly been wearing the Target uniform. Not there is anything wrong with that.

It just goes to demonstrate the power of a color and style for store personnel. both a 9 year old boy and a 30 something man saw my red shirt and quickly assumed that I was dressed in the Target uniform. Credit to Target for creating this easy to find employee uniform for consumers as they are hunting throughout the store.

And think about the blue polo shirts of the Best Buy team. And even at Target Field all the food and beverage vendors that wear neon green so that you can see them a mile away.

As a marketer I think the power of owning a color in the store and making it easy for your guests to find someone to help them is a smart thing. So hats off to Target, Best Buy and the Twins.

Now if I can only remember to not wear a "red" polo shirt when I can to Target again.

What is a great value?

Value is the subjective assessment which the customer and/or market makes about the overall worth of a product or service.

What do you consider great value?

For me it is when my expectations are met (or exceeded) for a reasonable price - value is then realized for me.

Have you been to the movies recently? Actually in a movie theater to see a recent flick?

Last night I dropped my daughter off with one of her friends at the Riverview Theater in south Minneapolis (3800 42nd Ave South) to watch Alice in Wonderland. This movie theate (only one big screen and theater seating) delivers a great value in my eyes.

-Two tickets to the movie = $4.00
-Two medium drinks and a medium popcorn = $7.50
-Total price = $11.50
-My value = Priceless ( to borrow from Visa)

What a great deal at a very nice theater. Yes the movie did not premiere this weekend and that is the niche that the Riverview Theater goes after. But they deliver unbelievable value for an experience that typically costs a lot more at the other cinemas around town.

So while we wait a little bit longer to see the movies - it is often worth it for us because of the cost savings and in our eyes that value that we get from the Riverview.

Any other great value stories that you want to share?