May 17, 2005

All that stuff about the importance of good people is true!

We won some new business today (yay!), and I'm thinking to myself how wonderfully fortunate I am to have such good people to work with. I remember that we were especially rushed to get this pitch done. There was lots going on. We met, agreed upon a strategic direction, and then divided up the responsibilities. Each person came back with great ideas that made the strategy come to life. The ideas were fresh and innovative. And it obviously paid off.

Ben Marino tells me that Jack Welch's new book "Winning" is really pretty good, and that Welch makes a big pitch for the importance of Human Resource leadership. He notes that HR gets short shrift in many companies, and says that's a big mistake. He's absolutely right. There's nothing better than getting "the right people on the bus," as Jim Collins says in "Good to Great." (There's a book worth referring to on a regular basis. What are some others?)

A Big Red Sign that Non-Traditional Media Rules

The Coca-Cola Company has said that in five years a third of its ad revenue will be spent in non-traditional forms of advertising.

We're building a list of non-traditional media ideas. Some we've done. Some we've heard about and are waiting for the opportunity to put to use. Seen some good ones lately? Pass them on!

More Wisdom from Rick Throckmorton

"Any country that depends on manpower and commodities will fail."

"Trust the People"

Alabama Governor George Wallace was a piece of work, but I always liked his campaign slogan: "Trust the people."

Reading more today about issues relating to marketing to children, I found it refreshing to learn about a recent national survey which shows that the public clearly prefers parental responsibility to government control. By a staggering eight-to-one ratio, respondents believe that "more parental involvement" is a better solution to keeping kids from seeing adult content than "increased government control."

Trust the people.