February 28, 2007

An Artistic Propogandist

When I was in Washington DC the other day, I was absolutely knocked out to see most of what is referred to as "George Catlin's Indian Gallery." Catlin was a mid-19th-century painter. In the 1830's he made five trips to paint the Plains Indians. He saw them as the embodiment of the Enlightenment ideal of "natural man," living in harmony with nature.

Catlin feared - rightfully - that the pure life of the Plains Indians was being threatened by our nation's westward expansion, along with the Indian Removal Act that required Indians in the southeast to resettle west of the Mississippi River.

He not only used his great talent to record the look and life of the Plains Indians, but he also used his art as a way to raise awareness of the issue of their culture being destroyed.

He created "George Catlin's Indian Gallery," consisting of more than 500 stunning paintings. He toured the Gallery and tried unsuccessfully to sell it to Congress. Ulimately, he went bankrupt. After his death, his debts were paid by an industrialist, and the paintings were contributed to the Smithsonian. They are remarkable. And, seeing more than 300 of them hung densely on the four walls of just one gallery is absolutely staggering.

Catlin's efforts may not have saved the Plains Indians, but they speak eloquently today to the beautiful individuality of different cultures and the importance of embracing, celebrating, and preserving them.

February 24, 2007

Talking With, Not At

There's been a fair amount of attention to Jane Mayer's wonderful New Yorker article on Joel Surnow, the creator of the TV hit series 24.

Torture plays a big role in the series, and it inevitably succeeds in getting terrorists to fess up. Some folks who know better are concerned that the show justifies and even promotes torture, along with the notion that acting outside the law is OK, if it's in the service of "freedom."

As Mayer points out, the truth is that the torture stuff works fine on TV as a device that enables the show to move along at its customary manic pace. But, in real life, it doesn't really work at all.

Several experts quoted by Mayer substantiate that fact. One even says, "If anything, physical pain can strengthen the resolve to clam up."

So what does work?

The experts agree: "rapport building," notes Mayer, "the slow process of winning over informants." [Obviously, a process that would take way too long for the slam-bam style of 24.]

Once again, we're reminded of the value of talking with our audience, rather than at them.

I had to be reminded of that yesterday, when we brought some creative work to a client. We had been spending too much time with people further down in his organization, and they had filled our heads with all the great stuff they were doing. And we translated that into a bunch of ads that were more sensitive to the voice of those individuals, rather than ears of our audience. The president gracefully nudged us back into the right direction.

Our friends at MTV Networks are terrific at talking with, rather than at. Another expert is Nikki Hardin, who in her Skirt! magazines, makes a very powerful connection with her audience: women. It's a deft skill, one never to take for granted...and one we need to work on every day.

Back to Jack...I wonder how he could build rapport with some of those creeps. That would be a fascinating show of its own.

February 19, 2007

This Google crowd is really pulling my chain. I click 'post the comments,' and they seem to post what they feel like posting. They must have something better to do...like start reading those 32 million books.

Ida, I agree that we're probably not going to be reading the about Natasha and Pierre on our computer screens. At least I certainly hope not. But what if you could read enough about them that you wanted to get the book and then - as a dear friend of mine used to do - read Tolstoy's classic every year. What a treat.

Nabokov wrote that we should read a book three times: first to follow the story, a second time to understand the subtleties of the story, and a third time to appreciate its full meaning.

I just read Dan Pink's "A Whole New Mind," in which he says the search for meaning is an integral part of what he calls the Conceptual Age...the age that follows the Information Age. We seek now, according to Pink, less materialism in our lives and more meaning. I believe that's true. As the Boomers turn 60, their pockets reasonably full of material possessions, they seem to seek more meaning. And meaning comes - in part - through contemplation and commitment...taking the time to engage with a piece of literature or a painting or a person.

I think those 32 million titles on Google will be a catalyst of curiosities, providing information, insight and possibilities to everyone with a keyboard...and that, hopefully sooner rather than later, will be everyone.

But I completely agree that the computer will not be the sole source of our visual material. Newspapers, for example, can always have a place in our lives, as books most certainly will. The reports of newspapers' death, like Mark Twain's, have been greatly exaggerated.

Another advantage of making books available online is the expansion of available titles. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of seeing the same limited number of titles at book stores. Talk about 'tip of the iceberg!'

Gifts that Keep on Giving

Someone asked me the other day about advertising ROI. It's a subject that keeps coming up. We've studied it, read books on it, and made all kinds of arguments for it...but, at the end of the day, who really knows?

The Super Bowl spots, for example, have a life on the Super Bowl...but then they have a much longer - and larger - life on the Internet and in other media. I didn't mind the two guys kissing, but that chest hair business frankly looked painful...and ridiculous. But pain seemed to be the currency this year, what with those guys slapping one another in the Bud spot. Whatever. Point is the spots get talked about and played many, many times more than the original 'buy.'

I think it was in this morning's Times that I read that 20 million people watched the Golden Globes, but then the next day 39 million people checked them out on People Magazine's website.

The afterburn has become more powerful than the original rocket launch. And any attempt at responsible ROI analysis becomes moot.

February 15, 2007

OK, Ida, comments are now back on. Don't diss me. Diss Google.

And, speaking of Google, how 'bout their project to scan every book ever published onto their site?!

They're well on their way to scanning the more than 32 million titles estimated to be in print. They estimate that the job will take the better part of a decade.

Imagine that. Each of us will have access to virtually every single book every published...as close as our computer or PDA. And, when wireless is worldwide and computers are so inexpensive that they blanket the globe, all people everywhere will have that access. Many more dreams will become a reality. Imaginations will be unleashed. Curiosity will be king. And won't that be fine!

Myths about the Restaurant Industry

In preparation for moderating a panel at the Charleston Food + Wine Festival, I was reading about the restaurant industry today. A couple of myths were dispelled.

First, failure rate. The "fact" that 90% of new restaurants fail has been widely spread for years. But recent research reveals that the actual number is much closer to 57-61%. And, if you look at how "failure" is recorded, it is determined by the closing of a restaurant. Well, obviously, people close businesses for lots of reasons other than financial failure (moving, retiring, changing their plans, etc.).

Second, what contributes to success. Conventional wisdom is that it's having a clear strategy and adequate capital. But, as I read in one report, having a clear strategy or sufficient capital won't necessarily protect restaurant owners from failure if they could not articulate their concept or commit themselves wholeheartedly to the business.

At the end of the day, what matters most is having a clear concept that is passionately and consistently espoused, the ability to commit huge amounts of time to the business, and a willingness to adapt to changing situations.

It strikes me that this is the formula for success in any business. Clear concept AND passion. Consistency on the core values that matter most...combined with flexibility to adapt to changing dynamics.

The Business of Going Green

A reporter asked me the other day if I thought that people were making purchase decisions based upon a company's commitment to being green. I do think that it's increasingly a factor in buying decisions. We've talked about some of that here: for example, citing advertisers who choose publications in which to advertise partially because of their commitment to being green.

We're also seeing green products selling so much better. The Times had a big piece on the wave of new household cleaning products that are green. If they're able to be price competitive, I think they'll blow Windex, Fantastik, et al out of the water. I'm told that the quality is at least comparable. During that same decade when Google scans 32 million books, traditional household cleaners could go the way of the buggy whip. All because the public - as usual way ahead of its leaders - wants to act responsibly with respect to our fragile planet.

February 11, 2007

Since when did Google rule the world?! Somehow they have taken over my blogworld and - in the process - held up some comments....comments for which I am so very grateful. They have hopefully now been released from Google Hell, and I look forward to reading them.

Sometimes I think I'm going to open the ice box door, and there will be Google. Enough already. I want my own life.

Wisdom for the World of Non-Profits

Most of us marketers are involved in non-profits. The other day I heard a great presentation by Dr. Thomas Wolf who is a leading strategist for non-profits. He highlighted five key issues, and I think it's worth passing them along, as I found his insights very useful. They also boxed with some research we've done recently. So that made me feel good!

In Wolf's view, there are five key issues: changing marketplace, leadership, ethics and accountability, new philanthropoids, and sustainability.

The changing marketplace is caused by the incredible increase in competition. There are simply so many more non-profits. Wolf used the example of cultural organizations in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1950, there were 16 of them. Today there are more than 1,000.

There's an associated challenge of balancing supply and demand. Wolf says that funders understand the need for this balance, and they often decide who should survive, because they don't like having too many organizations compete for their money. He calls this a trend toward 'Darwinian funders!'

Obviously, there are also demographic changes in the marketplace, as the Hispanic market increases, along with other shifts.

And, finally, there are the effects of technology. We now have so many more entertainment options at home that it's more and more difficult to get people to go out for symphonies, zoos, museums, or other opportunities provided by non-profits.

In terms of leadership, Wolf said that for the first time potential leaders don't want to serve on boards because of legal exposure (in our litigious society) and because of the potential of bad press (if you're a board chair of an orchestra and the musicians go on strike, you are often criticized in the media).

He noted that many non-profit staff members are aging boomers who grew up in a more idealistic time. Their generation is being replaced by one that wants non-profits to provide pay and benefits that are comparable to what's available in the for-profit sector. That's a challenge!

And, there's the challenge of 'the vanishing volunteer.' Today's two-earner household is not providing the volunteer service of generations past.

The third issue - ethics and accountability - is represented by the fact that non-profits have now had their share of scandals (United Way, Red Cross, etc.). Non-profits are held to a higher standard, as well they should be. And the government has put them under much greater scrutiny, as has the public.

Wolf's fourth issue is The New Philanthropoids. Here is where his information resonates so powerfully with our research. He notes that 50 years ago, philanthropists were great providers who didn't ask a lot of questions. That has all changed. There's been a move from patronage to investment.

Today's philanthropists want to be involved in their investment. They are more results-oriented, want accountability, and seek a specific return-on-investment. It's really like the venture capital model. When you get venture capital, you get the money...and the person. That's the way it is with today's 'venture' philanthropists. They want a level of involvement that is totally different from the patrons of 50 years ago.

That demands a whole new way to communicate with funders. And many non-profits have not made this change. It's critical.

Finally, Wolf discussed sustainability. How do you keep non-profits going. Once again, the ways of the past no longer apply. Those ways were some variation on improving the organization, getting systems right, and then building endowment. But those models failed because they lacked the clarity, continuity, and flexibility needed in today's new marketplace. Non-profits need to be crystal clear about their mission. They need to be able to see the long term. AND they need to be flexible...able to change very nimbly.

This is only a top-line report on Wolf's presentation. But it so clearly points out the changing dynamics in the non-profit world. It sets out the key issues. And it includes specific insights that can help all of us marketers make the non-profits in which we're involved all the more successful.

February 6, 2007

What Makes a Great Teacher

We all had them. Teachers who made the subject matter come alive. How did they do it? What did they have in common? What can knowing that inform our work as professional marketers?

That's what Dan Heath had been studying around the time that he and his brother Chip (a professor at Stanford University) wrote Made to Stick, a book about what makes some messages stick (and others, not).

My favorite teaching example in the book involves an Iowa elementary school teacher named Jane Elliott who - in the wake of Dr. King's assassination in 1968 decided that she needed to teach her third graders about discrimination.

She divided the students into two groups: brown-eyed kids and blue-eyed kids. She announced that brown-eyed kids were superior. Blue-eyed kids, then, had to sit in the back of the classroom. And they had to wear special collars. Brown-eyed kids were given extra time at recess.

Friendships were badly disrupted, as brown-eyed kids acted out their superiority.

But, the next day, Ms. Elliott reversed the rules. Now the blue-eyed kids were superior. Kids who the day before had described themselves as feeling sad, bad, stupid, and mean suddenly had a complete change of attitude.

More than attitudes changed over those two days. Performance changed.

The Heath brothers describe what happened: "One of the reading exercises was a phonics card pack that the kids were supposed to go through as quickly as possible. The first day, when the brown-eyed kids were on the bottom, it took them 5.5 minutes. On the second day, when they were on top, it took 2.5 minutes. 'Why couldn't you go this fast yesterday,' Elliott asked. One blue-eyed girl said, 'We had those collars on...'"

Those children learned an indelible lesson in discrimination and its harrowing effects. How brilliantly Jane Elliott made the lesson come alive...and stick.

The Heaths discuss the six key qualities of an idea that is made to stick: simplicity (distilling an idea to its basics), unexpectedness (capturing people's attention), concreteness helping people understand your idea and remember it much later), credibility (getting people to believe your idea), emotional (getting people to care about your idea), and stories (getting people to act on your idea).

Their book is fun to read. And while it obviously has great application in our business, I couldn't help thinking how vital its application is in teaching. Wouldn't it be wonderful if those stand-out inspiring/motivating teachers were the rule, not the exception?